


Tails of a Half Blood: Book 1: Birthmark

by IziWilson76



Series: Tails of A Half Blood [1]
Category: Mako Mermaids
Genre: Multi, Slade is evil, Veridia is a bitch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-16
Updated: 2016-08-02
Packaged: 2018-03-23 04:30:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 27
Words: 56,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3754648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IziWilson76/pseuds/IziWilson76
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Zac had an adopted sister? One who changed everything (NOT A MARY SUE!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I DONT OWN MAKO MERMAIDS!  
At first I didn't believe it either. But mermaids are real, and sometimes these mermaids have children with humans called eterothaleís. I'm the first to exist in 500 years. My name is Blair Blakely. This is my story. And it all begins with a 500 year old prophecy:  
2 nations shall conceive a child, born from sea and land  
Who shall reach 14 against a demand  
And to see her mother's pod in endless fear  
For the boy's soul, cursed weapon shall nearly cost dear  
A single choice shall result in the betrayal of a friend  
Mako Island to preserve or end


	2. Outcasts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It all begins on this night....

Disclaimer: I DON’T OWN MAKO MERMAIDS!  
I was packing my bags to accompany my brother, well adoptive brother Zac Blakely and his bestie Cam Mitchell on their camping trip. My adoptive parents said that I should go with them, because for some reason, they said it would give us "bonding time." The idea of bringing his little sister to a boys trip-out was a little weird for Zac. But believe me; Zac didn't know the half of the meaning of the word, "weird." All my childhood, weird things seem to happen to me. Things that are connected to fish, water and the sea. My best friend, Yukimi who is a science nerd said that's it's all because of some weird genetic mutation, that seemed to translate into puberty. What was happening to me, you may ask? It's pretty much what happens when you add fish DNA to human puberty. For me, it's the worst kind, anyone could ever get. For example, instead of getting zits, I got golden scales on my legs that would itch badly whenever they weren't wet. Now I didn't really know how this "puberty" was even possible, but when things went fishy-in my case, quite literally, it kind of helped if you could blame it on something. And for me things went mondo-bizarro, a lot. "You ready sis?" called Zac. "Yeah!" I called back. "Let's go then!" Zac called. To me, Zac is the big-league swimmer, which he kind of was, before "The Incident" happened. Just before I went downstairs, with my backpack slung over my curly hair, I looked in the mirror to assure myself that I was going to be fine. Staring back at me, was a dark red haired 14 year old American girl with silver blue eyes. What I was wearing was my usual beach type clothes, blue shorts and a green tank top with sneakers to go with them. On that note, I went into the dining room and hugged my "parents" goodbye. "Do I have to go?" I asked. "You'll be fine Blair." My adoptive mother, Lauren Blakely said. "There's nothing wrong with spending time with your brother." My adoptive father, Rob Blakely said. "What's the worst that could happen?" A sinking feeling dropped in my gut, making me really wish that he had never said that. Because starting tonight, my life and my brothers' were going to change… forever. But I coudn't let my family worry just yet. Putting on a fake smile, I exited the house, and walked onto the jetty and hopped into the boat. After carefully making sure we had everything and going over the rules about making sure I was within their sights at all times, we took off, sailing into the Pacific Ocean, toward Mako Island. Mako Island is this deserted island near The Gold Coast which is where we live. Yep, this American girl was raised by Aussies. Zac at the time, was a 16 year old half Asian kid with black hair and the most charming smile that got himself a girlfriend. Yep, Zac had it all. Popularity, good looks, toned body, athlete, good grades and a girlfriend. He can be a tad overprotective. Sure he's a good guy, but I never felt like I belonged in his family. Cam was a blond 16 year old who could be a bit of a show off. And by a bit, I meant a lot of a show off. He and Zac had been best friends for since they were 2. I got caught up with their adventures sometimes, so Cam is a good friend of mine. After a nice conversation with them I took a nap to pass the time. Before I knew it, my mind was plunged into a memory of how my weird life began. Flashback: Age 8 Blair is in her friend Yukimi's room, it's all sciency. Yukimi looks through a microscope to look at Blair's blood cells, and finds quite a fishy secret about her Western friend. "Well? What did you find out Kimi?" Rosalina, another one of Blair's besties asked. "This…doesn't seem possible." The Japanese girl replies shocked. "What is it? What's wrong?" the 8 year old Australian-American asked. "Based on all of our observations, your cellular make-up is actually a morph-genus blend of human and fish DNA." Kimi replied, her voice carrying traces of shock. "Wait, are you saying…" Blair asked. "You're not entirely human Blair." Yukimi concluded. "That's why you can breathe underwater. I know that this doesn't seem like reality but the truth it, you are a...mermaid!" Blair stood in silence before asking, "Mer...mermaid? I have mermaid blood in me?" End of flashback. "Hey Blair, wake up" Cam was shaking me and I groaned, bringing my head up. "We're here." Zac announced. The boat then arrived 20 meters away from the beach. Zac made the boat stop before throwing the anchor into the water. "What are you doing?" he asked Cam, who was preparing to fish. "What does it look like I'm doing mate?" Cam replied. "You won't catch anything." Zac said. "You my friend are just worried I'll catch something before you do, right in front of your sister's eyes." Cam retorted. Worried, Zac turned to me, but I wasn't interested to what was going on. I raised an eyebrow and held my hands in surrender. "Game on." he declared. I rolled my eyes as Cam and Zac got in one of their little competitions, again. If I was listening carefully I would have heard faint whispers behind my back but I was too busy enjoying the show. I eyed the mysterious island. Over the past 50 years, there have been reports of strange storms, and sinking ships all around the island. Whenever someone got too close to it, a storm would just pop up out of nowhere. It was as if someone or something has something on that island they don't want people to find. "Get the net! Get the net!" Cam exclaimed, snapping me out of my thoughts. Zac and Cam got the net and pulled a fish out of the water onto the boat. The minute I saw the fish, I turned away and almost threw up in my mouth. Seafood to me? Blech! Yes, people I, Blair Blakely, hate seafood. I know right? A mermaid who hates seafood? Yes, I'm aware of the irony! You see, ever since I found out I was "part fish", eating seafood has always felt like I was eating myself. I know, that's deep. Pulling the anchor back up, Zac motored the boat so we could get to shore. Just when we were walking into the forest, I heard something I wouldn't be able to explain for a long time. Be prepared. An American's voice in my head spoke. Everything is about to change. "Did you hear that?" I asked Zac and Cam who looked at me funny. "Hear what?" Zac replied. "Nothing." I said quickly. What I didn't notice that there was a mermaid behind the rocks on the beach, was watching me with a smile. It's time she knew she's not alone. Tonight, the prophecy continues to be fulfilled. She thought. We continued forward until we found a perfect spot to set our tents with the famous Australian heat beating down on us. By then I had gotten used to it after years of living here instead of New York city. "Perfect." I declared setting my bag down. Because I was a girl, I had gotten a separate tent from the large tent the boys were sharing. After I set up my jungle bed, I then decided to go hunting for plants or weeds. I had heard rumors that this place grew very good onions. I groaned for about 6 minutes of not finding anything. But I wasn't giving up anytime soon. Pushing back a bush I found a garden of onions! I fished out my bag and tucked a few in. After a couple of minutes, to my surprise, I did actually find onions. They were just ripe enough for tonight's dinner. I then walked back to camp to be greeted by the setting of Zac and Cam dining on fish. It took all of my willpower not to gag at the sight of cooked fish. To me, eating seafood was practically cannibalism. "I'm back!" I said in a sing-song voice. "Where have you been?" Zac asked, looking up from his food with a mad stare. I looked up to sky to be greeted by a sunset just getting ripe for initiation. Oops. I realized I had lost track of time. "Hunting for some vitamin, whatever it is in these onions." I said, waving my bag of said vegtables. "Where'd you get onions?" Cam asked. "I've been looking." I replied, sitting down and feasting on my dinner. I had to summon every ounce of strength just to keep from not to look at the fried fish. Looking up, I felt a slight pang of jealousy as I watched Zac and Cam interact like the good friends they are. You see, those two have got real families. Back then, I knew where my life was headed, a nice time in Australia. My past, however, was a blank at the time. My parents died when I was a kid. And I don't even remember who they were because of head trauma I suffered. To put it in simple words, aside from being American, I had zero idea of where I came from. Sure I got a nice family who fed me and kept me clothed and all but I felt like a part of me was missing. The only single clue I had to who my parents were, was this strange magic ring that could do magic and was powered by moonlight. "I'm going to crash." I heard Cam say who was getting up and going into his tent. "Me too." I said going into my own tent. I then place the onions down and snuggle into a deep sleep. The nightmare: I am standing on a boat with my family and friends. I blink and no one is there. Suddenly the boat is flooding. The doors are trapped I call out for help. Suddenly I try to radio the Coast Guard, but as I call for help, I hear a voice: "When you wake go to the ocean. The pod will help you. They'll know what to do" It was a woman's voice. I sit down and try to breathe in the water, but I could not. That's when just as I start to black out, I feel a strange feeling in my legs. As if they are being mega-glued and stuck. That's when I look down and see a golden tail. I am about to freak out when I enter a different dream. I am but a small infant falling out of a woman's reach in an airplane. I hear her scream "No! Thalassa!" I fall about 100 feet before landing on the ocean's surface. I could hear every bone in my body breaking. I start to black out, but that's when I am grabbed by another woman's arms and I see a flash of blue light coming from a ring. I could swear it was moonlight and it felt like I was being bathed in it. I feel myself getting better. I woke up, shaking in cold sweat. My magic ring was glowing so bright I had to cover it so none could see. Following the mystery woman's advice from my dream, I ran to the shore and dove into the water. I stayed down, holding my breath waiting for something to happen. but nothing out of the ordinary came until about after 30 seconds, I felt a strong tingling, like I was becoming a current or stream. I looked at my hands to check if they were ok and I felt on my chest a silver bikini top. I tried to get up, only to realize that I couldn't feel my legs. I looked down to understand that the reason I couldn't feel my legs was because I didn't have them! In the place of my legs, just a little below my waistline, was a long silver tail. My mouth opened and closed like a fish. I knew i had mermaid blood in me but I never anticipated a tail. One of my best friends, Helen did warn me that there was a chance I would get a tail but I waited for proof. Before I could even closely examine it, I felt a powerful surge, kind of like a strong breeze which was odd, considering I was underwater. I looked up to see a mermaid with a bronze tail pull me up."C'mon help her." Breaking through the surface, I started breathing heavily, partly because I was freaking out that I had just grew a giant fin, and partly because I was surrounded by other mermaids. "Who...who are you?" I asked a blond haired mermaid. "It's ok." she replied. "Everything's ok. My name is Aquata." "If I hadn't had itchy scales for a year." I muttered. "I'd beg you to tell me that I am dreaming." Aquata looked down at my tail and looked upon me with fear and shock. "She was not joking. We have a half blood in our presence." She declared to the other mermaids. As soon as the words escaped her mouth, there was a dead-panned silence as the other mermaids looked at me with surprise, some even started backing away and started whispering in fear. The only ones I could catch were: "Could it be?", "No one's seen one for 500 years.", "Any idea what she's capable of?" and, "Could she be our salvation or the cause of our destruction?" "Ok. Enough with the gossip. What's going on?" I finally asked. There was another silence. "Listen." Aquata spoke up. "I know how frightened you must be. It's totally normal for a half blood to get their transformations. It just usually happens a little later than your age. Do you understand what blood runs in your veins? " I nodded reluctantly. "Who had the mer genes? Father? Mother?" "That's enough for now, Aquata." I heard a voice behind me say. I turned around to see a beautiful mermaid swim toward me. She had dark red hair and hazel eyes. "Hi?" I said, smiling awkwardly. "Hello Blair." She greeted warmly with an awesome smile to go with it. My eyes widened as I realized that I had never told any of the mermaids my name. "How do you know me?" I ask scared. "Come closer child." The ginger mermaid beckoned to me. I treaded slowly to her, feeling drawn to her, like I could trust her. "It's been a long time since I last saw you. You have grown I must say. My name is Kailani." "I don't understand." I said quietly. "What's a half blood?" "It's another name for a half blood, half human, half merperson." Kailani explained. "Like you." "Gee, that explains a lot." I meekly said. "Now, you have to go." Kailani whispered with worry etched on her face. "Now? I just got here." I replied back, confused. "What is going on?" "I know, but the thing is, you just got your transformations complete, and I know that having a tail is a lot to take in. The other stuff will be continued another time. Take some time to process this." She explained. Just as she led me to shore, she stopped me for one more time. "One more thing. As soon as any water hits you, you get a tail. You only have legs when you're dry." She then waved goodbye before ducking her head under the water. As I pulled myself onto the shore, I was surprised to see my brother all wet and lying on the sandy beach. How did he get there? I wondered. I didn't have time to find out, because I blacked out… for real this time. The next morning, I woke up to my brother shaking me. "Blair, you OK?" he asked, concerned. "Yeah, I'm fine." I said irritated. "What are you doing out here sleeping on the beach? You were supposed to stay with me in the tent next to mine and Zac's." I heard Cam say sternly. "Let's get back to camp, Zac doesn't look to good." I piped up. We headed back to camp, with me feeling a little tired. Even after about 9 hours of no tail, having legs felt weird. Cam was pouring a canteen of water into Zac's cup. Mine was already full. I looked at it and even though I was thirsty, the water didn't seem so refreshing. "Guys you looked awful." Cam said with concern. "Thanks." Zac and I replied. "Where'd you two sleep? Do you even remember?" Cam asked, taking a sip of his water. "I don't really remember anything of last night." I lied. "Well then how'd you get from your tent to the beach?" Zac asked, raising an eyebrow. "She must have been sleepwalking." Cam theorized. "Cam, I've known Blair since I was a 7 year old and not once has she ever slept-walk." Zac explained. "But enough about me." I said to change the subject. "What's new with you, Zac?" "I remember walking off to take a leak." Zac explained, looking in the distance. "I saw a light." "Last night was a full moon." I chimed in. "No. Not moonlight, like a weird glow." Zac explained. "There were rocks, and when I moved closer, there was this cave." Zac paused for a second before continuing. "Next thing I knew, I was waking up on the beach and I see my sister next to me." There was a dead-panned silence, until Zac spoke up. "You two don't believe me." He said finally. "Nope." Cam replied. "Sounds like someone's got a case of the camping heebie-jeebies." I spoke. "The what?" Zac asked dumbfounded. "Never mind." I replied. "Come on, I'll show you guys where it is." Zac announced getting up. "5 bucks says he's coocko-la-bonza." I whispered to Cam. "You're on." He whispered back. We walked and arrived at this boulder mass of rocks. But unfortunately for Zac, there was no cave to be seen, not even in a bird's eye view. "There was an opening here, a cave." Zac said, confused. "You must be out of your mind big bro, because I don't see any cave here." I replied. "Oh and Cam, that'll be 5 bucks." Scowling, Cam placed the bill on my hand. "You bet on this Blair?" Cam asked. "What, is that wrong?" I retorted. "Maybe you dreamed it." Cam hypothesized. "I know what I saw." Zac said. "Not from where we stand." I pointed out. "Let's get back." We walked back to camp. I was so glad I didn't tell them what really happened. That would have been a disaster. I needed to get out of there. I had just about enough crazy for one day, or night. To my luck, I saw Zac packing the bags. I reluctantly copied him and packed my stuff. 1 hour later we arrived back to my houses jetty. Home sweet home. Someone once said, "Home is where you hang your hat." In this case, home is where I hung my towel. I rushed to my room and turned on the water in my bath, just to see if I was really dreaming. After 25 seconds, there was a golden tail replacing my legs, and a golden bikini top replacing my shirt. Gold? I thought to myself. That was weird. Last night it was silver. Must have been a mirage then. Seeing my phone was on the stand next to the bath, I grabbed it and called all of my besties to come here. The only ones I could truly trust with my changes. My 3 best friends who I would later call sisters. Helen Carter, the rouge, sarcastic one. She is a Black British girl who moved here 11 years ago. She usually dresses in a rebellious sense of fashion, with combat boots, jeans, red or black shirts and a leather jacket. She always has her hair in dreadlocks. Rosalina Gomez, or Rosie is a girl who's usually the jokester. She usually dresses in a girly fashion of dresses and pink shirts, jeans and flats. Unlike most Latina's, she has blond hair. And there's Yukimi Hamasaki or Kimi for short, the Japanese nerd. She also has a style of teal clothing. She wears teal or cyan shirts and jeans. She has light brown eyes. They were the only 3 girls who had helped me cope through my years of changing. They can be stubborn and loud, very, very loud. They are also overbearing, and they are a little bit of troublemakers. They are the best of friends I have ever had. "Girls?" I ask on the phone. "Yes?" they all answered. "You need to get over here. Boy do I have a story to tell you!" I then managed to get myself dry and prepared myself for their reaction. Line break… After I told them the whole story, I expected their reactions to be speaking random stuff; instead they just stood there, staring at me like I had 2 heads. "Let me get this straight. You met some mermaids, you grow this tail, 25 seconds after contact with water and your brother is now a psycho?" Rose asked. "Yes, yes, and no." I replied. "Kimi, it's exactly like your theory from that lab we did years ago!" "To be honest, this actually explains a lot." Rose said. "I think that one of your parents was a merperson Blair." Yukimi theorized. "No. Really? If I didn't know better, I'd swear that she's the first of her generation!" Helen said sarcastically. "But what does this mean?" asked Kimi. "I mean the second dream?" "What about it?" I asked. "Think about it Blair." Helen explained. "Your parents died when you were a baby and all of your nightmares, including this particular one start off with you falling out of an airplane. Coincidence? I think not!" "Right now, our secret just got bigger." Yukimi said firmly. "We need to keep this confidential." "Kimi?" Rose asked. "Speak English por favor?" We all chuckled at Rosalina's humor. "This whole thing has got me asking questions." I said. "Like what?" Helen asked. "I am half mermaid." I stood up, getting to a point. "So how did I end up in a human family, starting from a human orphanage in the United States? And that's not all. Who are my birth parents? Is that where I got my powers?" "You're right." Yukimi stood up. "Those are a lot of questions." "Are you sure you want to know the answers?" Helen asked, tugging her leather jacket. "I gotta know." I declared. "This could be a chance to find out my origin." "You got it." Rose said. "We're your friends Blair." Yukimi said. "Which means you can count on us." Helen said with determination. "Friends forever?" She stuck out her hand and repeated her. We all engaged in a group hug, promising a friendship that would last. But that was not the end. This was just the beginning of my tales as a half blood.


	3. Getting Legs

DISCLAIMER: I DON’T OWN MAKO MERMAIDS!  
Blair's POV

I woke up that morning, feeling weird. A couple of days have passed since I first popped a tail. The first thing that came to mind was… a bath. Ever since I became a “fully-fledged mermaid" the water seems to be more of my home. Having a tail in the water, it felt perfectly natural. Having a tail on land? It just felt weird and stuck. I walked up to my bathroom, and turned on the bath. I even added some bubble spray in for some extra sparkle. After the bath is full, I pondered for a second. What if I got a tail and lost my legs forever? Calm down Blair. My conscience spoke to me. You’ve had changes all your life. Having a tail is nothing. I unchanged and got in the water. For the first 25 seconds I feel fine, before the strong tingling came back and I could swear for a second, I was made of water. A golden tail and my bikini appeared. Just to check that I wasn’t dreaming, I gave my tail a flick and it responded. It felt a little strange, having your legs fused together and then growing into a giant fin. I stayed there for about 20 minutes thinking about this change, and what I could do. If dolphins could swim for miles, so could I. I could swim all the way to Hawaii. Can you imagine that? I mused in deep thought.

But suddenly, I heard knocking on the door. "Blair?" It was Teresa's voice. Oh man. If she sees me like this, I'm dunzo. I panicked in thought. Thinking quickly, I telekinetically locked the door and turned on the shower. By the way, I forgot to mention. I have super powers. I can control water, heat water and freeze water. I also can control the weather, turn invisible, superspeed swimming, I can talk to fish, , telekinesis, night vision, and manipulate the volume of objects. I also have something I like to call The Voice. If you've read mermaid myths, you might have read how mermaids or sirens used to use their voices to lure sailors to their deaths. I don't use The Voice to do that. If I use just amount of power, I can make other's do what I say. Literally!

"Yeah?" I reply meekly. "Your friends are here." Oh darn. I had forgotten that my besties were coming to hang out. "I'll be out in a minute, once I'm done with my shower!" I shouted. 

Score! She bought it. At least I hope she did. I then heated my bath, so the water and my tail would dry up and I turned off the shower. Within seconds, once the steam cleared up, I had legs once again. I got out of the bathroom, got changed in clothes, and rushed down stairs

Line Break….

"So whatcha wanna do?" asked Helen.

"I say watch a movie!" proclaimed Stephanie. 

"Hey Blair." said Rosalina.

“Yeah?” I replied.

“Did you use moisturizer? Your skin looks amazing!”

"No I didn’t." I say.

"Then how come you look like you’re 16?" Stephanie asked. 

"First, I think it’s cause I’m hydrated. Second, I can't use moisturizer, 'cause it's mainly water. 

“So?” asked Helen. 

"My skin will be dry and wrinkly! I'll be a geriatric by the time I'm 21!" I complained. 

"It's not like you ever had a skin problem!" Helen remarked."Remember my scales on my legs?" I asked. "I meant acne!" She snapped.

"See?" Rosalina asks. "See how bad this is? We have to tell someone! Our parents ,a doctor, the police."

"And then have I end up labeled as a what, not a who?" I ask. "No way, José."

"Blair's right Rosalina." Stephanie says. "We can't tell anyone."

"Not even Zac?" Rosie asked.

"No, not him." Helen snapped.

"But I'm sure he'll understand. He's a nice guy." Rosie tried to reason.

I wish I had told him, but back then I was completely unaware of the fact that my brother was a merman and he didn't know his little sister was a mermaid.

"No Rosie." I add on. "It's just too dangerous, people won't understand. I could be locked up."

"Why would you be locked up?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Because I'm different. Because I can do things other girls can't do. Because they may be scared of me. Think of the pod I saw the other night. How do you picture them on the run from human scientists who want to capture them or dissect them?"

"Ok." Rosalina says. "I won't say a word."

Line Break…

We're in the kitchen and no one is in the house. My brother Zac is on lifeguard duty with Cam. And my parents just left for grocery shopping.

"I just have one question. Why me? I didn't ask for any of this to happen." I say as I levitate a large drop of water and I catch it with my mouth.

"Well say goodbye for it to go all away 'cause you're a mer-freak now. No offense." Helen says. 

"None taken." I muttered.

"You're just unbelievable, girl. I mean look at yourself!" Stephanie exclaims. "You're drinking water from mid-air! Anyone else would love to be able to do that! You've got these amazing gifts and all you do is whine, whine, and whine! I don't even have a tail!"

"The point?" I ask.   
"The point is Blair Blakely, is that you are a living dream come true of what most 6 year old girls dream of being: A mermaid!"

"I know how she feels, I don't want to hang around with me sometimes." Helen says.

"You wanna go swimming?" Rosalina says. "Sure!" Everyone but me says.

"Blair aren't you coming?"   
"No."  
"Why not?" "I don't want to make you all jealous when I swim with my tail."  
"Blair, we've known since forever, we've seen your changes, and we're still not freaking out." Rosalina points out.  
"What she means to say is, is that no matter what you are, we're your friends, and will never abandon you." Helen says.  
I ponder for a minute. Was it really worth it? Swimming with humans? Regular humans who've never swam with flippers for feet? They are my friends but, I needed to be careful of witnesses.  
"Sure, I'll go."  
Line break….  
It's been 20 minutes of swimming and we're done. We're in my room. We've watched a movie, pigged out on ice cream. And we've had a laughs.  
I am glad my friends are still here for me. But I still worry. How long can I keep my secret hidden, even with my BFF's to back me up? How long will it be before I make a wrong move and then everyone knows? When that happens, how long will it be before they come for that pod I met. I couldn't help but there was something about that red-haired mermaid, that seemed familiar, that went for the pod as well. Only in the future would the first part of my bunch of questions be answered.


	4. Meeting Rita

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It all begins on this night....

Disclaimer: I DON’T OWN MAKO MERMAIDS!

 

I was in my room getting dressed for my first day of school. High school as a matter of fact. Ugh. I always ask myself: What is the meaning of all this…work? This by the way, is the nastiest 4-letter word of the English language. I had already set out my clothes: A blue/white striped shirt, jean shorts, and black sneakers. Anyways, as I was about to head downstairs to have breakfast, my phone rang. Sighing, I looked at the caller ID, and it was Helen.

"Hello?" I asked, picking up the phone.

"Guess you're feeling a tad nervous huh?" she asked. "Besides the fact that we're the stinking fresh meat in high school?"

"Just another first day of school. Well high school in our case." I replied.

"I wasn't talking about that, I was talking about the mermaid thing." Helen deadpanned. "What if you get splashed and turned into a swordfish?"

"Good point." I squeaked. That's when Rosalina got on the same line as us.

"How is Ariel here going to get splashed?" she asked with a giggle.

"School's a danger zone, there's a kajillion ways." I pointed out.

"Name one for moi." She announced cockily.

"Water fountains for example, I mean drinking and the actual fountains. Sweat?" Yukimi pointed out, apparently gotten on the same phone line.

"Don't stress girl." Helen soothed. "You've been through worse days."

"I'm not stressed. Just worried." I replied. "Oh and Helen? Not helping, but thanks."

"Anytime, fish-femme." She chuckled. I smiled in response.

"Cool. Let's go to the café, we were supposed to be there. Besides, your brother's going to give you some 411 on Suncoast High." Stephanie chimed in. Oh dang. I forgot that I was supposed to meet Zac so that he could give me a little orientation of what the freshmen have to go through in high school. He had already given me a "small talk" about high school and its ups and downs. Today he was just gonna give me some tips for the first day of school.

After biking to the Ocean café. I arrived to come across a very weird sight: My brother eating prawns for breakfast. I know that he ate fish on that camping trip, but this was a little strange. But believe me, this was only the beginning of my very strange first day of high school. I walked past 3 girls, who were looking at my brother like they were studying him and I sat down with Evie, Zac girlfriend. Oh did I tease him about his girlfriend. Ah the good old days.

"Hey." I said to her.

"Hey Blair." She smiled at me.

"What's up little sis?" My brother said, with a mouthful of prawns. When I saw him eat one, I nearly gagged.

"You ok?" asked Cam.

"Yeah, I just hate seafood." I replied, my voice straining with disgust.

"You know, I've never actually met anyone who hates fish so much." Evie spoke.

"You already have, sister." I piped up.

After Zac gave me a little orientation about what the first day of high school is, my best friends came in and sat with me. That's when a black haired girl came over to me and noticed my aqua blue gemstone ring.

"That's a lovely ring you have on there." she says.

"I'm Nixie." She smiled as I did. But for some reason her face looked like she was trying to do what a normal human being would do in a conversation. She took one look at my ring and said, "That's quite a lovely ring you got."

"Thanks. I'm Blair." I replied.

"Wherever did you get it?" She asked me.

"It was my mothers." I answered. "I think."

She looked at me with suspicion within her eyes. "Your mother's?" She asked, her voice trembling.

"I lost my parents when I was a baby." I paused, giving them a moment for them. "This ring is all I have left of my birth mom."

"Your birth mom?" She whispered.

"I'm adopted." I explained. "I moved here when I was 6."

"Oh. Speaking of which, I noticed your accent." She noted with a smile. "It doesn't sound like it's from Australia."

"It's not. I moved here from the United States." I remarked.

"So you're not Australian?"

"Oh I am an Australian, I just wasn't born here." I explained. "I was born in the United States. At least I was told that."

Just as she was about to ask me more questions, Kimi pulled me away from her and says that she's probably some news reporter, because she reminded us about one person who can get under our skin by being curious: Evie. But for now, school was to start in 20 minutes and we needed to get there on foot now.

Later at school…

We arrive there just at the nick of time. Suncoast High School, my cage, consisting of a fiery pit of homework and tests. This was it. Time to grow up. We entered to the Hall of Doom, also known as the locker area. We had already known where they were, and as usual, fate put us next to each other. But for some reason, fate put our lockers, next to Zac, Cam, Evie, and her friend, Carly. We unpacked our stuff, and we had History first period.Great. Terrific. I just started high school, and I had the world's most reminding subject as my first class.

Later that day…

We were at lunch after Health class. Torture it was, health. It just gives me headaches thinking about the structure of the human body, when I was never a real human to begin with. Now with good lunch break, I was talking to my friends about some rumors that they heard about Suncoast.

"I heard rumors of the sophomore bio. lab having mutants to dissect." Kimi spoke up. "Part frog, part tuna, all cannibals."

"Well I heard that the basketball court used to be flooded when it rained due to poor roofing." Rosalina added in.

"There's this big rumor that Taxiride went here and dropped out." Helen said. "Well Thalie, heard anything?"

"Nothing really, though Ms. Santos seems to take a liking to me." I said simply.

"Rita Santos, the ever-mysterious school principal takes a liking to a student?" Helen snapped. "HA! I'd like to see that happen!"

"I'll tell you how it happened. I almost bumped into Principal Santos before 4th period. Instead of being mad, she just smiled and said "Carry on. Oh and Blair? I'm sorry that your mother couldn't keep you. But just know that she loved you very much. Someday you'll meet her." I couldn't understand what she was talking about."

This when things took a turn down Weirdsville.

"Uh Blair. You might wanna take a look at your ring." Rosalina pointed out. I looked down to my ring, only to find it glowing. Then, I noticed Zac looking a little pained. Could I have been doing this? Was my magic ring doing this? I didn't have time to figure it out, because a water fountain behind me exploded and lunged toward me. I tried to run away from it, but I could swear for one second, it seemed to follow me. I closed my eyes for a second, and I felt a ton of water dumped on me. It took a second to realize that I was wet, and I needed to get dry. And fast. I ran for cover, and found a storage room. Using my powers I tried to levitate the water off me, but unfortunately, bad luck seemed to catch up to me. I couldn't stand anymore, because I didn't have legs anymore. I only had my golden tail back. This is not my day.I scowled in embarrassment. I looked around and then I saw a paper towel roll. I tried to grab for it, but I could not reach it, for obvious reasons. I then realized that I had super powers, such as heating things. Duh! I put my hand over my tail, and concentrated on heating. Sure enough my tail started to heat up. After a few seconds of trying to see through the fog, I saw myself in my clothes.

"Blair? Blair where are you?" I hear Evie's voice.

Great. Just what I needed. An investigation. I stood up, and got out of the room.

"Blair!" I heard Zac.

"I'm fine Zac." I said before running off to find my friends. Sure enough, I found them.

"That was way too close." Kimi said, gasping in relief. "We are not using that ring in school ever again."

"It wasn't me!" I cried out.

"Blair, who else in this school has a magic ring?" Helen asked.

"Maybe you just lost control." Rosalina said.

"I'm telling you. It wasn't me!"

Line break….

We arrived back at my house to my room.

"Wow!" Rosalina says. "What a day. How many people get to have a first day of school like that? That was epic!"

"Epic?" I asked in worry. "It was out of control!"

"She's right Rosie." Helen snapped. "Blair here is solucky she didn't get caught!"

"What did happen with that fountain? What were you doing with that ring of yours?" Yukimi asked, turning towards me. "Nothing." "Your ring was glowing at random."

"It usually doesn't do that. Oh, and I smoothed things over with Zac. Drama over."

"This has been one strange day." Helen muttered under her breath. "Now I've got homework. Anybody else got any?" We all raised our hands. "Let's finish today by doing some!" Kimi announced.


	5. Lyla Alone

DISCLAIMER: I DON’T OWN MAKO MERMAIDS!

I was under the water, swimming like a free spirit. I could hear dolphins squealing in happiness, their squeals to me sounded that I was like a distant cousin to them. Well I am, sort of. I wasn't swimming here for fun. No, I was swimming here to test how long I could hold my breath for. After what seemed like an eternity, I rose up to the surface and swam near my silver tinny. Did I get to the middle of nowhere in a boat? As if. I tried that once before, but I ended up on the bottom flapping around with a tail, and I was almost sighted by some fishermen. Let me tell you, I was not in the mood for being on their menued catch. So how did I get the boat here without actually steering it? Simple. I swam underneath it and used my cool water powers to move the boat with me.

I looked at my watch and stopped it. On the watch, was my new personnel best: 45 minutes! Which meant that I had held my breath 10 minutes better than my other best time! My life was still getting pretty crazy, in a good way.

Suddenly my phone rang. I picked it up and I noticed the caller ID was my adoptive moms'.

"Hello?" I answered the phone.

"Hello Blair." Teresa said on the phone. "I've decided what time the party should take place."

"What party?" I asked in confusion.

"The party we have every year." Teresa deadpanned. "You know the one with the sleepovers, the food fights, and the movie night."

"Wait, are we talking about the one that has a lot of drinks?" I asked with fear oozing in my voice.

"Yes." She replied.

"Oh, then, I've changed my mind." I said a little too quickly.

"What do you mean?" Teresa asked puzzled.

"I don't want the party to happen." I declared firmly

"Blair, this is a tradition in the modern teenage girl society." She persisted. So, I'm not really one of them. I thought.

"I know but, right now, I just don't see how I can do it this year." I tried to reason with her.

"Blair, just give it one more try." Teresa said. " And if you don't like it, we can cancel next year's ok?"

"I'll think about it." With that, I hung up. Oh man. I had totally forgotten about the sleepover party I had every year. I needed to get back on land, and fast. So I put the phone in my bag, and swam, concentrating on the boat, as I move it with my mind.

Line break…

My gals were in my room. Yukimi was trying to determine which liquids won't turn me into a fish. I forgot the other ones, but I remember one of them being vegetable oil. Rosalina was making a collage while Helen was polishing her nunchucks. I was just practicing my dance moves. To do a sport and to stay in shape, I took dance lessons. I have won several medals in dance competitions. Though Zac is a talented dancer himself. But I stopped to think about the party.

"Hey Blair." Rosalina spoke up. "What's the hold up?"

"I was just thinking." I replied.

"About the party?" She asked, already getting hyped up.

"Yeah." I sighed.

"Alright, alright!" She exclaimed in excitement. "Pour the soda and cut the cake!" She made the pouring and cutting motions with her arms as she said, "pour the soda and cut the cake".

"It is nice to have that party." Kimi remarked.

"Yeah. Nice" I said gloomily.

"Hey Blair what gives?" Rosie asked.

"Aren't you excited about the party?" Kimi asked with worry.

"I don't get it." Rosalina said.

"Maybe she's sick." Kimi said seriously.

"Impossible." Helen announced, walking towards her strange friends. "If 8 years of listening to you two hasn't made that white chick sick by now, nothing will." With that, she walked up to me, in my bed, where I sat and looked at the horizon of my window right above it.

"Blair what's wrong?" Rosalina asked. "You wanna tell your Niña all about it?"

"I... I just don't feel like having the party this year, that's all." I replied meekly.

"Why not?" She asked, stroking my hair.

"It's just that with my… changes complete, I never fit in anymore. I'm not… normal." I sighed.

"Oh Blair, Blair, Blair."

"Hey Blair, quit beating around your room." Helen said suddenly. "What do we have to do? Paint you a sign from above?"

"As your friends we insist you have the party." Kimi remarked.

"The party?" I asked.

"No, a wedding." Helen sarcastically snapped. "Of course the party!"

"Blair, take it from a scientist." Kimi put her hands on her hips. "Life's not about calculations and hypothesis. If being cautious is all you're gonna do, then you're gonna watch your moments for memories go by."

"Thanks for the encouragement." I piped up. "But you're all forgetting one big thing."

"What?" They all said.

"My tail and the drinks." I replied.

"Uh, when you say that you transform when you get wet, you don't mean, every time?" Kimi asked.

"Each time!" I exclaimed. "And there's gonna be cameras and gossip girls there! It's a huge risk that I just can't take."

"Who says you even need to think about the risk?" Helen smiled mischievously. "It's simple, you get splashed, you run to the bathroom and you get dry."

"But if I got caught?!" I shouted.

"It's better to use your powers than to be seen." Kimi said.

"Look at the bright side." Rosie pointed out. "At least it beats sitting in your house all cooped up watching TV."

I thought for a moment. Was it really worth it to have the party? I mean, it's not like not having this sleepover was the end of the world, I have lived as an eterothaleís for 14 years.I thought.I can't be afraid of every single drop of water I see. I then pulled out the phone and called Teresa.

"Teresa. Hi." I spoke into the phone.

"What is it?" She asked.

"I need you to start texting or e-mailing the invitations. The party's on." I boldly spoke.

"Oh that's great! I'll get to it right away." She said assurdly.

"Ok thanks." I hung up.

Line break…

Everything was set up. Zac was sleeping over at Cam's, thank goodness. And the guests were not due to arrive until in 10 minutes. The pizza was hot, the ice cream was cold, and the popcorn was popped. Rosalina put up tons of decorations. Kimi baked her famous 8 layer cake with 3 kinds of frosting and assembled a traditional game of Truth-and-Dare, the scary version. There was also going to be talks of boys and lots of music. My adoptive mom even made her famous Zac-shaped-piñata. It feels good to smack it. Don't ask me why. It's a sibling thing.

Line Break…

20 minutes later, what was once a living room, was now a room full of girls. If Zac were here, we'll… I still don't even want to think about it. Every nook and cranny in the room was filled with freshman girls from Suncoast High. Some of them were sophomores, few of them juniors! Music was playing, we had whacked the Zac Piñata, and we had done make-up/manicure/pedicures, (even though Helen gagged on the thought of it, she is a tomboy after all.) I looked around, and I saw one of the girls, Irene Matthews shake the kool-aid box.

"What's up?" I asked.

"It's about empty." She replied.

"I'll get some more." I said assuredly. But just as I grabbed the box, a trickle of left-over Kool-aid leaked onto my hand. Thinking quickly, I sprinted upstairs to my room and shut the door. I tried to get the water off, but then I fell down. I looked over; only realize that I was stuck in a tail…again. Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, I heard knocking at the door.

"Blair you ok?" It's Victoria Khrual. Great. Perfect.I thought.Just what I actually needed. Witnesses to the live little mermaid in action. I locked the door using my powers. Normally, I would use my heating powers, but the last time I did, Helen says that she saw steam coming out of the door.

"Yeah I'm fine." I called out.

"Come out then." She snapped.

"In a bit." I reasoned.

"Come on Blair!" She shouted. It was then I had remembered, Victoria was that type of 9th grader, who did not take no for an answer. Last time someone did back in 8th grade… let's just say he got it bad. Trust me, it wasn't pretty. "I'm counting to 3 girl, then I'm knocking this door down." Oh dang, I forgot she was a boxing pro. That's when I had no other option. I had to use The Voice. This has to be one of the most idiotic plans I have ever come up with, and I'm only using this power in case of an emergency, in which this minute is one. Here goes nothing I thought. I unlocked the door with my powers and and soon as she enters, her jaw dropped the minute she sees me.

"You're a mer…mer…" She was cut off because I locked up her lips. I then used every amount of power in my voice while I'm heating my tail. You will go. You won't remember any of what you saw in this room. You're going back to the living room. You will say that I am fine and I had to go get some more pillows. You will go now. Victoria's expression was blank. As soon as she finally blinked, I stood up.

"You had to go get some pillows didn't you?" She asked.

"Yes." I replied.

"Then why did you lock the door?" She asked

"I didn't want to spoil the surprise of how many pillows I was getting." I lied. Compared to Zac, I was a pretty good liar. Seriously, I've been telling him for years and he still can't lie.

"Oh." She turned back, and headed downstairs. Phew! That was close, too closeI thought. I quickly grabbed the extra pillows and hoped the Voice hadn't worn off. I ran downstairs and I found Victoria talking with the other girls about finding me grabbing the pillows. Whoa, glad that plan worked.

Helen grabbed me and asked, "What really happened?" I told her the whole story about using The Voice. She nodded in agreement.

"Even though I think managed to escape being shipped to a lab." I said. "I still think that I should have been careful. I'm just saying that next time that happens; I might not be so lucky."

"Be happy there was a this time." Helen said.

"Helen?" I said.

"Yeah?" She said to me.

"Thanks." I smiled.

"For what?" She asked in confusion.

"For talking me into this." I explained. "Otherwise I'd just be stuck in my room watching TV all night. You were right. I can't spend the rest of my life hiding."

"I was right? Gee, I'm going to have to get used to that one." Helen snapped. I chuckled.

Line Break…

The other girls were in the living room discussing boys. I had a feeling that they would do this, but for me love has not yet come my way, and I was not in any hurry.

"Hey Blair, which guy on the basketball team has got the cutest biceps?" asked Ali Hannah.

"Gee, let me think…. It's Timmy Wood." I answered.

"Ooooooooohhhh." They all laughed.

"I only answered for the sake of answering!" I shouted. Don't even think about it Jenna!""

"Come on!" said Rhonda. "We're voting the perfect guy out of all the sports teams. Oh and does your brother count?" I pondered for a minute.

"Depends if you're old enough to like him." We spent the rest of the night talking about boys. Tonight I learned something in this slumber party: No matter who or what you are, you can't be scared of what makes you unique.


	6. Blizzard

I was in my room reading a very good book on my IPad, while levitating water in little mouthfuls to drink. It's very convenient, that way I wouldn’t have the risk of getting wet if I spill it by accident. Plus, it helps me practice. Just because I had been developing my powers doesn't mean I shouldn't keep them in check. My powers used to be infamous for getting out of control. This one time, when I was 10, I had this accident with my ability to create storms in the Sydney Opera House. I didn't exactly mean to create a small tornado with enough wind to tear anything, but the tour bus ended up blown into the harbor. The time before that, when I was 9, when my 4th grade class took a field trip to an aquarium, and I sort of telekinetically hit the wrong lever at a catwalk above a tiger shark tank, and… let's just say that me and my class, and the tour guide took a fall and an unplanned swim. And the time before that… well you get the idea. Was I a troubled kid back then? Yeah, you could say that. Suddenly I heard knocking on my door, and Rob came in.

"You haven't even started." He says deadpanned.

"Started what?" I asked in confusion.

"Packing!” He exclaimed, throwing a bag at me. “I told you I wanted to get away as soon as we can."

"I have. I was just thinking about what to take." I replied.

"We do the father-daughter camping trip every year. What's to think about?" Rob asked.

"There's always last-minute stuff I forget to take." I muttered, looking through my closet.

"Well make sure it's not your wet weather gear." He piped up.

I stopped dead, as my blood went cold. I prayed to my dead parents that he didn’t say the word, “wet”. " What? Why?" I asked panicking.

"I checked the forecast, there's a storm moving in later this morning." Rob explained.

"'You're kidding." I muttered.

"So we get a little bit wet, what's the big deal?" He asked.

"But a storm means chances of sickness.” I lied. “We could catch a cold."

"You can't even get a fever, unless you stand out in the rain not wearing a raincoat." He deadpanned.

"But it'll be muddy everywhere…"

"And it'll still be great!” I was cut off by Rob. “Now I want to get going as soon as we can, so hurry up with your packing."

As soon as he left, I picked up the phone and dialed Rosalina. If there was one thing she was good at, it's making excuses to get out of stuff. Unlike Zac, whose best excuse is so poor, that he couldn’t even fool a PE teacher.

"Rosalina? It's me.” I spoke into the phone. “I need your help and fast."

Line Break…

Where is she? The rain's already started and if she doesn't get here, I'm toast. As if on cue, she appeared at the door, with her hair a little wet.

"There's no need to panic." She said, trying to lace every word with calmness.

 

"Are you kidding me? There's every need.” I retorted. “I mean, we've gone camping every year. Robs gonna be crushed. But I can't tell him that if I go out like this I turn into a fish girl."

"What if you used your ring?" She suggested.

"To do what?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Simple, stop the rain, then you can go to the trip." She beamed at her genius.

"Remember what happened the last time I tried that?" I muttered. I actually tried to do that once. I didn't exactly stop the rain. Instead, I sort of caused a blizzard in my neighborhood. You should have seen the media. They even asked every single person within the neighborhood. Luckily, I put them off the scent before I could make the headlines. Could you imagine that? Picture this: "Weather Witch creates icy blizzard in summer." Not gonna lie, Zac reaction was pretty hilarious, to the point of him freaking out in Thai.

"Oh yeah." Rosalina grimaced, remembering the incident.

"What else have you got?" I asked.

"Tell him you're feeling woozy and running a temperature.” She said, plopping herself on the couch where I was sitting. “

It's foolproof. It works on my parents all the time."

"Of course it works on your parents." I said, sighing.

"Why do you say that?" She asked.

"Because I'm pretty sure your dad is not a doctor." I snapped.

"Oh."

"Any other bright ideas?" I asked.

"I'm working on it!" She snapped.

Rosalina paced around trying to think of something while I just groaned in frustration. Of all the days to rain, why did it have to be this one?

Line Break…

Rosalina and I were watching the news on my laptop to see when the storm will clear up. But instead, my bad day just got worse.

"So until this pressure drop moves, we can expect lots of heavy rainfall and severe weather storms for coastal regions."

"This is definently the thing known as, not good." Rosalina commented.

"Ya think?” I asked. “This day couldn't possibly get any worse."

That wasn't really the right thing to say, because Rob came in. "You ready Blair?” He asked. “Oh hey Rosalina. Sorry this is the father-daughter camping weekend, any time I'd ask you along…"

"That's cool. I wouldn't not want to camp in this if I were you. If it was me, and my dad, I'd hope to cancel. The forecast is… ugh." Rosalina lied.

Please make this lie work. I thought. "Nice try Blair, let's go." Oh! I was so close! So close! I have to be officially doomed to oblivion.

"Sorry, Dr. Blakely. “ Rosalina sincerely said. “Look- you're just gonna have to tell him the truth."

"What?" I protested, nearly fainting at her outburst.

"Dr. Blakely, the real reason Blair here doesn't want to camp is… she's sick.” Rosalina lied. “She just didn't want to bother you with it."

"Oh really?" He asked. I then put on my best fake sick face. It was a little stuffy in my room so I should have been hot.

"How long have you felt off?" Rob asked me. He then felt my forehead. "You don't feel hot. Pulse isn't up. You seem fine. Why are you doing this? Don't you want to hang out with your old man anymore is that it?"

"Of course…" I tried to speak in a nice way.

"If this is your idea of a joke it's not very funny Blair. Now get your act together and pack your gear alright." He then leaved my room. Ok. Bought myself some time. Plan, plan, plan. I needed a plan.

"What if you tried using your heating powers to create a fever of your own?" Rosalina asked.

"Remember the last time I was dared to try that and I ended up in the hospital for 2 days with heat stroke?" I asked.

"Hey, I swear, I thought that was foolproof to miss out on exam days." She put her hands on her hips.

Line Break…

10 minutes later, Teresa comes in. Great. Just what I needed. A moment when I am actually, doomed to oblivion. Because there's only one person in the world who can give the most painful and tear inducing punishment of all: Mom. Now I needed to think of something fast before my adoptive mom does the same (A.N, No offense mothers. I just happen to have personal experience with that kind of horror.)

"What's going on Blair?” She asked. “You know your father loves these camping trips. If you really want to go anymore, don't play games. He deserves better."

"But she's not! She really is sick." I should have applauded her for trying to stick up for me, but I could in about ten thousand years.

"Rosalina, please." Teresa said. "If her father says she isn't-" That's when there's no other choice. If I was going to get a heat stroke again, I might as well not be through lots and lots of really painful experiments.

"Touch her now, she's burning up."

To my luck, Teresa touched my forehead. "You really are running a temperature." She said alarmed. Score! I screamed mentally. It took all of my concentration to not smirk, or stifle a giggle. "Oh darling, I'm sorry. I feel terrible. Well at least this explains a few things. Your father made a mistake. You're definently not well enough to go camping. Now go and lie down in your bed." I did so and fell into a deep sleep.

Line Break…

In a few hours, I woke up to someone shaking me. You're in the clear.” Rosalina announced. “Storms gone"

"Really?" I asked.

"I can see blue sky so start packing." She answered. I quickly jumped out of bed and I started to go for my bags when Rob came in with Teresa.

"How are you feeling?” He asked me sincerely. “I'm so sorry for not believing you before."

"You are?” I asked. “It's ok Rob."

"No it's not. I'm a father; I should have listened to my own daughter.” He then checked my back. “There's obviously something going around. Fever's gone."

"Really?" Teresa said with surprise.

"I just saw the same thing happen to Principal Santos' nieces too.” Rob explained. “It was the weirdest thing. It came and went so fast.” Rob then turned to me. "Next time you feel sick, say so. Am I that hard to talk to? And if you don't want to go camping anymore, tell me that too."

"No, Dad. I do." I said. That was weird. I rarely call my adoptive parents "Mom and Dad."

"We can go camping anytime.” He said, hugging me. “What's important is that you can talk to me. I may have adopted you when you were just 6 years old, but I rose like you were my own daughter. Remember that." With that, he leaved with Teresa.

"That was close. Too close." I said.

"Hey Blair?" Rosalina asked.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"Do you think that you'll ever see your mom again?"

“How could I?” I asked. “She either abandoned me or lost me.”

“Blair don’t say that.” Rosalina said. “I have a feeling that you’ll meet your mother again.”


	7. Dolphin Tale

Tonight, I was walking down the road to Helen's house. I was going there to have a girl’s movie night. We have one every couple of years. If we would have it every year, it would get a little boring. I rang the bell and waited patiently for the fun to begin. This year, it was Helen's turn. Last time was Miyuki's. For some reason, she thought it was a good idea to pick The Human Centipede. It really wasn't because after the first hour, we couldn't sleep after being grossed out and I’m pretty sure that Rosalina fainted and Stephanie spent 3 hours in the bathroom vomiting. Bad for business. Anyways knowing Helen, the movie would be involving fast cars or big explosions. Saw was in a word: Scary. I don't mean scary as in “scream your head off” scary. I mean real horror. That’s a series of images I’ll never get out of my head. In the nick of time, Mrs. Carter, Helen's black mother opens the door and said with her British smile, "Hello Blair!"

"I'm here for Helen's movie night." I said.

"Of course.” Mrs. Carter gestured to her home. “Come in."

I walked in and up to Helen's room. It's filled with posters of rock bands, and she has a lot of karate trophies. The reason for this is because she is a martial arts student. Seriously! Miyuki is a hockey player, while Rosalina is a track star. I never did swimming… for obvious reasons. She and the other girls were in the room.

"Hey guys!" I called out.

"Whaddup?" asked Rosalina. Helen looked upset.

"Helen what's wrong?" Miyuki asked. And just as I thought she was gonna cry, she smiled.

"Ze problem is zat it iz showtime and our little mermaid iz not in her zeat." Helen said with a German accent (A.N, No offense German people.) I scowled in embarrassment.

"The popcorn is popped, the ice cream is cold, and the room is all set out. So what's the movie we're watching tonight?" Rosalina asked. Just as Helen opened her mouth, her mom came into the room.

"Helen dear?” She asked. “Enjoy your time. And you swear that you're not watching anything violent?"

"Yes mom." Helen groaned in exasperation. With that, her mom left and turned off the lights, leaving Helen to flash a flashlight under her chim, giving her a spooky effect.

"Ladies and no gentlemen” She announced in a spooky tone. “Get ready for the scariest night of your lives. Maybe that last movie Miyuki picked out was a little freaky. But this movie is destined to Freak. You. Out! Because we are watching the true horror movie of the century. We are going to watch…"

"What?!" Miyuki exclaimed

"Wait!” Helen yelled. “I haven't told you what it is yet!"

"WHAT IS IT?!" Rosalina screamed, nearly knocking over her soda.

"Hey. Rosalina?" I asked.

"Yeah?" She replied.

"Listen up please!" I yelled.

"I do listen!” She protested. “I just don't do it much." I roll my eyes. Rosalina can be a little be of a short attention span.

"Alright." Helen continued. "We are going to watch… THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT!"

"Wait wait." I asked. "The 1999 movie? The one that revolutionized horror?"

"Correctomundos.” Helen replied with a smile. “Let's see who gets scared of the scariest movie of all time."

"Just start the movie. But I'm betting you that you get scared first." Miyuki says. Helen turned on the movie and sat down with us.

After the first hour, I'm pretty sure we did not even blink. We just hid behind our blankets, but none of us even dared to scream. Even though I had no tail, I could feel my scales getting goosebumps.

After the movie ends…

The most terrifying film we have ever experienced was over. I'm pretty sure none of our hearts were beating. Not even for a second

"Is it over?" Rosalina asked.

"Now I'm really sick to my stomach." Miyuki remarked. "Now that's a series of images I'll never get out of my head." I said, scared. Then we laughed to try to ease the tension.

"Can I pick 'em or can I pick 'em?" Helen boasted in her natural British accent.

"Did you see how Heather was looked so scared, even on the cover?!” Rosalina asked.

"I WAS FREAKING OUT!” Miyuki screamed. “But I wanted to turn it off."

"So Helen, come on.” I said, smirking to said person. “Admit it. You were totally and yet unbelievably scared." 

"I don't do fear." She snapped. But later that night, we woke up to Mr. Carter in quite a fit.

"LADIES!" He screamed.

I looked around from my sleeping bag. The windows were shut, but the door wasn't.

"Ladies. Which one of you did it?"asked Mr. Carter

"What happened Dad?" Helen asked.

"I was downstairs getting a midnight snack, and found the windows taped shut and all of the furniture blocking the doorway.” Mr. Carter explained. “So sorry, girls, it looks like you're trapped."

"Girls did you do it?" Mrs. Carter asked.

"No." We all said.

"Pinky swear?" Mrs. Carter asked.

"Pinky swear." We all replied in unison.

Mrs. Carter looked at her husband with her glare. “There you have it.” She remarked. Mr. Carter looked flabbergasted. He is a lawyer so when things didn't go his way, he would put on that face. "Oh yeah of course. In court, you swear on a stack of pinkies!" He left with his wife.

"I can't believe your dad would accuse us." Rosalina said. "We were sleeping the whole time."

"Hey Helen?" I asked. "Why is there a roll of tape on your bed?”

“Wait a minute.” Miyuki inspected the roll of tape and slowly raised her head at Helen. “You did do it!"

"I did not do it!” Helen shouted. “I was sleeping. I even remember having this weird dream in which I put tape on my windows and pilling up the furniture at the doors to keep the Blair Witch out.” She paused and looked at Miyuki who had her hands on her hips. “I did do it! But how did I do it?"

"You must have been sleepwalking because the movie freaked you out." I theorized.

"It did not freak me out." Helen snapped. "THE BLAIR WITCH!" Rosalina cried.

"Where?!" Helen screamed running to her bed and hiding under her covers.

"Alright. Here's the deal.” Miyuki said. “We set up a booby trap that makes a lot of noise if you sleepwalk."

"Ok." Helen sighed.

"Oh and one more thing." Rosalina pointed out.

"What?" Helen asked.

"Blair Witch." Rosie plainly said.

"Where?!" Helen hugged her pillow, almost looking like she was gonna burst into tears, causing Rosalina to laugh.

"That never gets old." Rosalina said, wiping a tear.

Line break…

I woke to a popping noise. Rising from my sleep, I saw Rosalina trapped in bubble wrap. And there were fake sirens blaring noise.

"What happened?" asked Mrs. Carter as she entered the room.

"Uh, I heard that sleeping on the floor is good for your complexion?" She lied.

"Hon, get down here!" I heard Mr. Carter.

"Let's go." I told the girls. We arrived downstairs to find Helen putting up even more furniture.

"Helen Victoria Carter, stop." Mr. Carter said seriously. "

You can't tell her to stop, she's sleepwalking." Miyuki said.

"Oh I haven't noticed." Mr. Carter snapped.

"Must stop Blair Witch." Helen said in a monotone voice.

"Blair Witch?" Mrs. Carter asks.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Right now, we've got to wake Helen up." Rosalina stated.

"You can't wake her up. I have tried everything." Mr. Carter says weekly.

"Helen!" Mrs. Carter yelled. "I'm making chocolate chip pancakes!"

"Cool. I'll have 12!" Helen said jolting up.

"Back from the dead I see." Rosalina snapped.

"Uh what happened?" Helen asked, looking around.

"You, young lady were messing up our clean and non broken living room to keep the Blair Witch out." Mrs. Carter said, angrily crossing her arms.

"I did?" Helen replied in confusion.

"Helen Carter, I can't believe that I gave you the freedom you asked for and abused it!" Mrs. Carter exclaimed.

"Whoa." Miyuki said, putting her hand up. "What are we talking about?"

Helen sighed. "Apparently lately my mom doesn't understand that being a 14 year old means no more holding hands with her baby."

"And apparently my daughter doesn't seems to understand that with more freedom comes more responsibility, even if you pinky swear.” Mrs. Carter snapped. “Let me guess. You girls watched the Blair Witch Project?"

"Yes." Helen replied. "Helen, I understand that you want independence, but just because you're a freshman in high school, does not mean that you get to have the freedom of a senior." Mr. Carter said sternly.

"I understand.” Helen sighed. “I'll come to you whenever we have movie night."

"Good." Mrs. Carter said.

“Although.” Rosalina piped up. “One good thing did come from this.”

“And what would that be?” Helen asked.

“Blair Witch.” Rosie said simply, causing Helen to scream and run to her room. We all just burst out laughing. “That gets better every time!”

Line Break…

As I was walking home, I stopped to think about this year's movie night. It was quite interesting. But it did teach me a lesson. With great power comes greater responsibility. That's exactly what I had to learn when I first discovered my powers. It’s only a matter of time before Zac learns to let my hand go.


	8. Zac's Pool Party

It was just another regular Friday for me. I burst through the doors in absolute euphoria.

"Let the weekend begin!" I exclaimed to the ceiling. "The week is over because it's Friday!" I sang in an F sharp. I've always loved to sing, but when I actually use my siren voice while singing, I somehow manage to turn into a boy magnet. One time, when I was 9, I tried to do that in a Talent Show because I thought it would make my voice better. I had just gotten out of a cold and I needed to improvise fast. It did get me in, just not the way I wanted. Let's just say even 8th grade boys surrounded me for 2 weeks. You would have no idea how much privacy I lost for 2 weeks. Especially in my own room. And that is exactly why Zac doesn't let me anywhere near a boy alone unless it's for school purposes. Ever. It's actually pretty much how Zac went from a big brother being cool with having a foster sister from the USA to a majorly overprotective big brother whenever I left the house.

Suddenly I heard my phone go "buzz buzz." I picked it up and the caller ID was Evie.

"Hello?" I spoke into the phone.

"Hey Blair." Evie said. "Listen I need you to do me a favor."

"Sure." I said.

"Have you ever seen how Zac's been acting weird?" She asked.

Come to think of it, Zac had been acting weird lately. He's quit the swim team, he's never around…water. I had assumed that he's having a nervous breakdown, but maybe I was wrong, maybe there was something else going on. "Yeah so?" I asked, trying to keep my cool.

"So I'm throwing a pool party, and you're invited." Evie simply answered.

"Are you sure? A pool party?" I asked with uncertainty.

"It's ok." Evie said. "You and your friends are cool."

"Thanks but I'll think about it." I said.

"Well it's tomorrow at 2 pm, in case you consider it." She hung up.

Why didn't I think of it before? It seemed like the only explanation. I thought. I needed to have a conference with the girls. So I got on Skype on my computer and called all of them.

"So why'd you call us here?" Rose asked through the screen.

"Guys." I said to them. "Have you ever seen how Zac has been acting weird lately?"

"Yeah." They all said in unison.

"Do you know why?"I asked.

"Because he's going through a stage that only affects swimmer boys?" Kimi theorized.

"Or maybe Zac's finally cracked and chickened out?" Helen asked.

"Maybe." I continued. "But maybe we were wrong. Maybe there's another explanation. Maybe there's a simple reason that's been under all of our noses including Kimi's the entire time."

"What are you saying exactly?" Helen asked. Here goes.

"There is a possibility that my brother is a merman." I said, causing them to look at me like I had grown 2 heads. "Think about it. He avoids water, he drinks liquids with a straw, and whenever he gets water on his skin, he runs off like he's hiding something, just like me."

"Yeah wouldn't you say that Zac's suddenly aqua phobic?" Rose asked.

"Helen." I responded. "How can Zac be aqua phobic? He's loved the water his whole life and now he looks like he's afraid of it."

"It sounds like a brilliant theory." Kimi chimed in. "What do you say we go to this party to test it?"

"Good idea." I responded. "I'll be careful. I promise.

Before I could even blink, Saturday had come. All I needed to do was stay dry, don't use my powers, and don't let anyone see my tail. I could easily do that… hopefully. Checking the watch, I noticed it was 15 minutes to 2. I entered Zac's garage where the party was being held and I saw Hanna Watson bringing prawns. Clutching my stomach, I could only think of one thing: I'm gonna be sick.

Flashback: Age 10

A young Blair ran to the bathroom. She had just been tricked into eating a piece of salmon by none other than Rosalina as a prank. She then went into the bathroom, closed the door and spits the salmon into the toilet.

"Blair, come on!" A 10 year old Kimi said, knocking on the door. "Eating fish isn't as bad as you think! And Helen promises not to tease you anymore." Helen scoffed.

"That's right." Helen said. "I'm sorry I called you "Fraidy Fish, and Scardy Scales, and Ariel, queen of the vegatarians. Now come out, eat the salmon already!"

"NO WAY!" Blair screamed. "NOT WHILE I'M PART FISH!"

"Technically, you're a mermaid, so you're all fish."

"Not helping Kimi, but thanks." Rosalina said. "Blair?"

"FORGET IT GUYS!" Blair screamed. There's no way in a million years, YOU'RE MAKING ME EAT FISH!"

End of Flashback…

Shuddering at that memory, I walked up to my friends and I handed them walkie-talkies. "If anyone pops a tail, just say, code red. I must know." I said.

"Got it." Rosie replied.

"Split up."I ordered.

About 55 minutes had passed. I must be having a lucky day because I have actually gone 55 minutes without any water troubles. Getting bored of doing nothing, I headed back to the Zac's room to chill when I saw Zac walking towards the jetty. I think that's it's time. I thought. I followed him and prepared the talk.

"Hey Zac." I said.

"What's up?" He asked.

"Nothing much. You?" I asked, sitting down. "Why aren't you hanging out with the others?"

"Not in the mood." Zac replied, sighing.

"Same. " I said. "Hey Zac?"

"Yeah?" He raised an eyebrow at me.

"If you knew something about me would you still be my brother?" I asked, looking away from him into the canal.

"Of course." He replied.

"I mean if you were really my brother, I could tell you anything." I muttered. "And no matter how weird it was you'd still take me in right?"

"Of course." Zac said, holding my hand and looking into my eyes. "Blair, I'm your brother. I won't judge what you tell me. I promise no matter what." With the sibling feels taking over me, I hugged him and he hugged back, a sign of a true brother. "Now come on. Out with it."

Now it was time. If I had to tell him, there was no going back. And I had to take this slow.

"Do you ever see something you can't explain?" I asked. "I'm not talking about a strange light in a sky or crop circle with a weird symbol. I'm talking about something that's not supposed to happen. I'm mostly talking about something that's not supposed to exist. Like in reality."

Zac pondered for a minute. It looked like he understood what I said. I saw understanding flash in his eyes, like he was seeing himself in me. "Do you mean like a miracle?" He asked.

"No." I replied. "Something else. Do you ever think that the reason you can't explain what happened that night on Mako is because, what happened, wasn't natural?"

"Something happened that night and you're trying to sell me on some WEEKLY WORLD NEWS headline?" Zac asked, trying to sound puzzled.

"I don't need you to tell me what happened that night." I snapped. "If I'm going to tell you my secret, you're going to tell me yours."

"I truly wish I could tell you but I can't." Zac sighed in aggravation.

"But that doesn't change that something's still unaccounted for." I pointed out. "You've been avoiding water ever since that night."

"Now you're implying what exactly?" Zac asked.

"I'm not implying anything." I retorted. "I'm just giving you the facts."

That's when she came. No not Evie. A tall blond girl, who I would know as a very familiar girl.

"Hi." Zac said.

"What's up?"I asked. Lyla froze unsure of what to say. "I meant how are you doing. You're not from around here I guess?"

"I'm Lyla." She said. "And no, I'm not from here. I'm from...out of town. You two not partying?"

"Not in the mood." Zac said.

"I'm just eh." I just said.

"Me as well." Lyla said. "Still feel like a bit of a stranger in there though."

"I'm the same." Zac said, quietly.

"Me too." I said.

"But they're your friends Zac." Lyla said. "Why do you feel like that?"

"No special reason." Zac lied.

"It's gonna be a full moon shortly." Lyla chimed in. "It always makes me feel different." I shuddered thinking about the full moon and it's power. Ever since I was a little girl, I used to be for some reason, affected by the full moon. Every night on that moon, according to my friends, as witnesses, I would somehow manage to swim all the way to Mako. But by the time the full moon sets, I was in some pool that's bubbling. And every night of every month, I somehow managed to get back to shore. For the past years, I had gotten immune to the moon by building up my mind. Whenever I saw the moon under the sea, I felt like I was right at home and the ocean was where I truly belonged. "The full moon." Lyla continued. "Doesn't it get to you?"

"Come to think of it yeah." I said.

"What do you mean?" "Zac asked.

"Yes what do you mean?" Lyla asked. "Do you feel like a conduit for the full moon?"

"Let's just say that I've been moonstruck pretty much all of my life." I left before Lyla and Zac could any more suspicious.

I moved with quick pace back to the party and I found myself talking with some people when I received the call that will change everything. I heard my walkie coming on, making a noise like static. In response, almost everyone turned to me.

"Sorry guys."I said quickly, running outside. "What's going on?" Fear crept up my back like a snake when I heard the sentence that made me speechless. "My brother's in the where with a… what?!" I exclaimed. With no time to waste, I dialed Helen. "Helen, get the fog machine. And get whoever is dry out of there." There was no choice. I ran to the pool and found Lyla, Nixie, and another blond girl leaving. And I saw Zac. "Now." I said into the mike. Soon, in just a matter of minutes, there is fog coming up. Perfect. I then concentrated on lifting Zac out of the water and drying him with my powers. Let me tell you, Zac may have been an athlete, but he was heavy! Fearing he might see me, I ran to my room, where I saw my friends.

"Blair. I can't believe it!" Kimi exclaimed in excitement.

"This explains a lot." Helen remarked.

"Wait, should we tell Zac the truth?" Rose asked.

"No. If Zac knows, he's in more danger." I replied. "Besides, I talked to him. He can tell me if he's ready."

"Are you sure?" Helen asked.

"Positive. When he needs it most I'll tell him." They all nodded in agreement.

I was correct but the questions remained: What happened to my brother? What was really going on there in Mako that night? And who were those girls?

Boy did I have a long way to go.


	9. Zac's return to Mako

In my dream, I was swimming under the sea next to a dolphin, feeling as though I was home. Then suddenly the dolphin became enveloped in a bright light and I looked away to avoid being blinded.

"Blair. Blair" A feminine voice sounded through the ocean. It seemed familiar. Then an image appears to be a mermaid with red hair. She was the same mermaid who led me to shore that night.

"We meet again, little one." She said in a gentle voice.

"This is impossible!" I said, scared.

"Nothing is impossible." She replied caressing a hand over my check. "Now we don't have much time."

"Time for what?" I asked." Is that you Kailani?"

"Yes, it's me." She said simply. "Listen to me. Tomorrow, when the full moon rises, Delphin, my friend will guide you to me."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Tomorrow night, you will learn how you came to be. Goodbye." With that, she left with another flash of light.

End of dream…

I woke up gasping for breath confused if that was actually a dream. I stared at the ceiling, trying to wrap my mind around this. Her instructions were crystal clear, but the questions remained: If she knew who I was, and where I came from, then why after all these years, would she come forward with the information? What did she know? I then thought about Zac. If he was a merman, could he be affected by the full moon? Maybe so. Problem is, I don't know if mermen are effect-prone to the moon. I had never seen another merman in my life. Maybe I should warn the others. No. Not a good idea. Should I warn Zac? No, he's really smart. One false word and he's in serious danger.

I raced downstairs to have a quick breakfast, when I bumped into Lauren.

"Sorry." I said to her.

"Blair, don't worry about it." Lauren said kindly.

"Hey can I talk to you?" I asked, deciding that it was time to get advice.

"Like you need to ask." Lauren said, leading me to the couch. I gladly took the invitation and sat down.

"Hypothetically, say someone has come to me with information about my origins." I lied. "Should I take it?"

Lauren bit her lip in thought. "If this person is someone you don't know, don't go to them. But if this person is someone you know you can trust. Remember, you're 14, so you know who you can call friend. What is this about?"

"It was just a question." I covered up.

"OK." Lauren said. "Remember, if you have any questions, you can always come to us."

The day went by in a flash as I made sure Zac was ok. Why he invited Lyla and her friends, I had no idea, but he made sure that he was ok. From what he told me, he was hanging out with them as they were getting to know each other. The full moon was rising as I walked toward the jetty. I could already feel the moonlight radiating power into my veins. Suddenly,I heard a dolphin clicking.

Mermaid! I heard "Delphin". Are you ready? I pondered for a minute. My own identity was at the meeting place. Answers I've been looking for my whole life are there. This meant, I was going there. The secret to my origin could very well lie within tonight's meeting.

Yes. I said, speaking dolphin. I'm ready. Let's do this. I dived in, felt my legs become a tail and I swam with Delphin to the cave. Over the years, I had picked up the language of dolphins. It was a bit hard at first.

Before I knew it, I had arrived in a beautiful cave that kind of looked like the entrance to a pirate's cave. I turned around to find that Delphin was gone.

"Blair." I almost leaped out of the water at Kailani's voice.

"Kailaini!" I exclaimed. "You gave me a fright."

The middle aged mermaid laughed. "I'm sorry I couldn't resist. But Blair, let's get to business. I don't have much time or else the mermaid council knows I'm here. I had hoped this day would never come. I know your origin and why you were fished out of the river. I have always known."

I was taken aback. The orphanage had said I was an orphan, which meant I had lost both of my parents. But they never said anything about me being fished out of a river. "I didn't know about that part." I confessed.

"I had expected so." Kailani said in sympathy. "Just as I suspected that you didn't know about your father's death."

"What are you talking about?" I asked confused. "Last time I checked the news, both of my parents died."

Kailani sighed, holding back tears. "They were wrong Blair." She said quietly. "It was only the father that died. And it was no plane crash that killed him." That sentence caused tears to pour in her eyes. "He was killed by that wretched Veridia!"

I gasped in shock. "My father was murdered? "Why?"

"Because she weren't targeting him." Nerida said. "They were targeting you." I was speechless beyond belief. I couldn't imagine mermaids killing a helpless child.

"Who is Veridia?" I asked. "Is she the leader of this mermaid council?"

"You're smarter than I gave you credit for." Kailani let out a sad smile. "You really are Nerissa's goddaughter."

"Who's Nerissa?" I asked, a little thrown off.

"Blair, I am sure you have often heard stories of your origin." Kailani explained. "But now it is time you know the whole truth. Your mother is a mermaid, of great skill and knowledge. One of the greatest practitioners of magic of the Mako pod, in many centuries. I am her older sister. One day she fell in love with a human, your father, but had to leave her pod, because they didn't understand love. Then you came along, and your mother had a family. But that life ended, when the mermaid council looked into your future, and they saw you deciding the fate of Mako Island. Your parents managed to hide you and themselves for 4 years from the council, which is still considered impressive. Rita and Harry moved to New Jersey, which is where you were born. But somehow Veridia, somehow found out you and your family being here on a vacation. And she planned the unthinkable: killing a helpless innocent child: you. I tried to stop them, but I managed to warn your mother in time enough for your family to try to escape on a plane back to to America. Veridia somehow found out about the flight, and through her dishonorable ways, she made the plane's engines malfunction. Your father managed to keep the plane in flight long enough for you and your mother to get off with a, what do you call it? Oh a parachute. But he could not hold onto it for long, before the plane crashed into Africa. But she was cruel enough to send you flying away into the ocean, hoping to finish you when you were only a baby. I tried to save your father, but my efforts were in vain. Though I got to you just in time. And so, as you lay sinking, into the ocean, dying in my grasp, I healed you with the ring you carry today. Not long after that, I took you to America, placed in you a river leading you in an orphanage, and you know the rest of your story."

I nearly slipped in the water, as my breathing hitched. I felt a variety of emotions, shock, fear, anger, and sadness. I didn't expect to be wanted dead. "Kailani, this can't be true!" I cried. "You mean...you're my aunt?"

"Come here." My newfound aunt becokened me stretching out her arms. I treaded towards her and embraced her, hugging tightly. I wanted to let my tears out, but I was too shocked to even let out a single one. I was frozen and thawed at the same time.

"If you knew who I was, why didn't you take me in?" I asked.

"I wanted to, but halflings must live at least the first 13 years of their lives on land before accepting their life of the sea." Kailani explained. "Besides, it was better for you if everyone in the world thought that the rare hybrid children were truly extinct. Yes Blair." I looked up to my aunt, dead straight in the eye. "You are the Titanic of the Half Blood. I'm so sorry I didn't tell you this before, because I wanted to grow up happy and it seems that fate put you with the right family. Now you need to know who Judge Veridia really is. She serves no great purpose. She fights no great evil. Sheis great evil. Any endeavor she undertakes, she does to maintain the ancient prejudice and cold war between mermaids and mermen."

"But Veridia can't be that bad can she?" I asked. "Maybe if I can try to…"

"No." Kailani said firmly. "Veridia cannot be reasoned with. She has the highest power of all the mermaids."

"You said nothing about what happened to my mother in the plane crash." I said. "Is she alive?"

"Yes." She replied.

"Who is she?" I asked, ready to know the name.

"Your mother is…" Kailani was cut off by the sound of footsteps.

"Kailani! Someone's coming!" I screamed and I swam out of the sea entrance to my jetty. When I got there, she was gone. I was alone. As I pushed myself out of the water on the jetty, which is something that actually builds a lot of muscle. In the midst of the process of drying my silver scales. I couldn't even process what I had just learned. Who knew a mermaid could be so cruel as to actually rip apart a family? But why would she try to kill a rare species? What was she so afraid of? And my mother, who was she? Was I meant to survive the crash? Am I even supposed to exist? But all I knew was that my mother was alive. She was out there somewhere. I could feel it.

"My mother's alive." I declared out loud finally standing up, gazing into the moonlit night horizon. "And I will find her… somehow."


	10. The Siren

As I was heading downstairs for breakfast, I stopped at the bottom of the stairs to think. Because a few weeks ago, I would have found it surprising that Zac would have been at the café, eating nothing but seafood. But now that I know that he is a merman, it makes me feel more like an outsider in front of him. Sure he’s kind of like me. I thought. But what am I to my brother anyway? I'm worse than his annoying sister; I'm a freak for crying out loud! It didn’t really matter anyway at the time anyway. He would never understand that a mermaid tried to kill me but ended up killing my father. He probably never even trust me to tell me his secret, even if I tell him about my powers. I just wanted to find my mother, someone who actually understands what it's like being alone and growing up not knowing who you really were, even though you were raised by a kind family.

“But I swear.” I announced. “If it's the last thing I do, I'm going to find my mother!” And avenge my father…

Line Break…

As I was now at school, I figured I wouldn’t be seeing my brother to say hi, because he was busy studying for this big test, that freshmen can't take. It was supposed to be some sort of standardized math test. Right then, I was not interested in that test for a long time. I went to my first period class, no knowing that today my relationship with my brother would never be the same again.

Line Break…

I was heading to my locker when I spotted Ms. Santos there. Uh-oh. I am so massively screwed.

"Blair, may I talk with you please?” She asked with her hands on her hips. “Alone?"

We walked to her office. I could only think that she must have found out that it was Rosalina who photo-docked the techers heads onto big fat animals a couple of weeks ago as a prank.

"Blair, do know your brother well?" Rita asked as we entered her office and she stood behind the desk.

"Yes ma’am" I replied scared. Can you blame me? I was trying to not get in trouble.

“Don’t be scared dear.” Rita said, walking towards me, around the desk and placing her hand on my shoulder, like she did care about me. "Has he ever cheated on specific tests, like todays? When I locked the door and left my questions in the room under well care?"

I pondered for a minute. Had Zac really cheated? It just didn't seem right. Or even like him.

"So you're saying that my brother stole the test questions?” I asked. “But how?"

"I don't know.” Rita said. “Unless your brother suddenly gained the ability to turn invisible and unlock doors with his mind." Scared, I held back a gulp.

"But Ms. Santos, you still have no proof that Zac took the test questions.” I tried to reason. “Besides why are you telling me this and not my parents?"

"One. I know my students, and I saw Zac in this room.” Rita explained. “He wasn't as invisible as he had hoped." If I find out that Zac had actually cheated, he was going to have to answer to moi. "Second, since you are siblings with Zac, and close friends, it would seem fitting that you inform him of this, because you have a close relationship with your brother. You may go."

I left Ms. Santos's office. I just found it hard to believe that someone as kind and as compassionate as Zac could do something as…wrong as cheating. Thinking quick, I turned to a friend of mine, a computer nerd of some sort (A.N, nerd power! ). He goes by the name Matthew Mitchibata. He could basically hack into anything. You name it, he could hack it. I knew just where he would be at this time. And what he can hack, specifically Zac's phone. I entered the freshman computer terf. That's where the 9th grader computer experts do their magic. I knocked on the door.

"What's the password?" A guy from the other side of the door asked.

"New England Clam Chowder." I replied.

"Is that the red or the white?" The guys asked. Oh. I could never remember that part.

"Red?" The door opened. How did I get the password? I have my connections. I may not be a nerd, but I do have my acquaintances.

"What's up Blair?" Tanvi asked. Tanvi's this girl who's really nice and all. She's cool. But she has her way with audio tech.

"I need to see Matthew Mitchibata." I said.

"You got it." She said, gesturing to said person.

"Hey Matt." I said.

"Hey, Blakeley!” Matt exclaimed. “How's it going?"

"Super and I hope you're having a lovely day." I replied.

"Do you?" He asked

"Don't I?” I asked. “So whatcha up to Matt-dinga?"

"Just watching the fishies, Blair-oschivitz.” Matt replied. “You see those blips? That's a bunch of computer viruses. I'm creating an anti-virus program. Those little bugs will be vaporized before they find any software."

"Nice!” I exclaimed, high fiving him. “Now that's what I'm talking about! Can you hack into my brother's phone from yours?"

"Of course I can why?" Matt asked.

"I wanna see his photos, any ones that were taken today, or at least from the past few hours."

"Come on girl, I thought you had a challenge for me." Matt muttered. Typing his computer, he worked his magic and sure enough, success was ensured. "Here." He said, handing me his phone. I looked at it and I saw the photos. My jaw dropped. It was official. My brother was a cheater. I gave the phone back to Matthew.

"Can you trace the signal of the phone?" I asked him.

"Yes." Once again, Matt does his work. "He's in the field, near the cafeteria." He said.

“ Thank you." I said.

"Where are you going?" Matt asked.

"To have a little family meeting with my brother." I replied. I left to where Matt said Zac was. Luckily, he was there, sharing his phone with Evie.

"ZACHARY MARK BLAKELY!" I shouted. He turned to me, eyes wide. I walked up to him. "We need to talk."

"Can't you see I'm in a tight schedule?" He asked.

"Sorry did I say need?” I sarcastically asked. “I meant we have to talk." I yanked him by the ear, which was Zac’s ultimate weakness, and dragged him to the storage room, with him saying repeatedly, "Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow." As a sister, I have my moments. I used my powers to unlock the door and shut it.

"What do you want Blair?” Zac asked with pain. “I'm busy." I yanked his phone and scrolled to the picture of the test and showed him the phone.

"Yeah. Busy cheating!" I yelled. "Santos was right! You did steal the questions! Don't you understand?"

"That I'm getting Evie what she deserves?” Zac huffed.” You don't know the half of it."

"I understand what you're trying to do, but this isn't the right way." I said.

"Why should you care?" He asked.

"Because I know about it.” I explained. “About everything. That you're a merman. You were always doing the right this with your powers. Until now." He just stood there looking at me, like I had read his future.

"You knew?" He said, with shock.

"I know.” I replied. “I mean, saving that little girl? Help save a dolphin? I've been covering for you because I love you and I'm proud of you, and of the good that you've done. But not anymore."

"Why is this even your business?" Zac snapped.

"Zac.” I began. “Hear what I say. I was born and have been a mermaid all my life. And I have not found anyone who is like me until now. Family saved me from the plane crash, it helped me and you in all of your times of troubles and even now, family is saving your butt from your parents when you cheated. My friendship will not abandon you. So don't you abandon on who you are."

With that I left the storage room. If he was going to cheat, that didn't mean I couldn't cheat a cheater. I walked to Ms. Santos's office.

"Hello Blair." She said kindly. "What brings you here?"

"You were right Miss Santos. Turns out that Zac did cheat. But I've got a little lesson that' s probably a very bad idea." I said smirking an evil grin.

Line Break…

Soon it was time for the test. I waited outside and pretended to be texting. I then sent a real text to my brother saying, "Sucker." His little cheating fiasco would be coming to an end soon…

"Turn over your papers now." I heard her say. I peered into the room and I saw Zac flabbergasted. I should probably fill you in on what I did. You see, I convinced Ms. Santos to change the test to next year's syllabus. But I also convinced her to let Zac and the rest of his class re-take the test next week.

2 hours later…

I arrived at my room. I told Zac my secret. Wait. I told Zac my secret?! Ohhhh. I did not think this one through. I can only think of one way to try to bring a compromise with him. I text him: "Do you wanna go swimming?" I get a text back: "Sure. Meet me at the jetty in 20 minutes."

At said time…

I put on a bikini and headed to the jetty. I sawZac there in swimming shorts.

"So how long have you known?" He asked, not turning around.

"About the test?” I replied. “For days. But I'm really disappointed in you for trying to cheat."

"Not that. This." Zac said lifting a ball of water from the water and letting it drop back in the canal.

"Since Cam pushed you in the pool that day.” I replied. “I didn't want to tell you until you wanted to tell me. It's your secret."

"Well, it's our secret now.” He said. “Hey listen I've been giving this some thought. You were right. I should have never used my powers to cheat. Especially for Evie's scholarship."

"Don't be so hard on yourself." I said, patting him.

"So it's not my fault?" Zac asked.

"Of course it's your fault!” I exclaimed. “Zac, you're an awesome guy. Powers don't make you better. Just different. It's what you use them for that counts."

"Thanks Blair.” He said, hugging me. Being the good sister I was, I hugged back. “You wanna go swimming?"

"Are you not freaking out inside?" I asked.

"A little bit, but now that I found out that my own sister is a mermaid, it just makes you cooler." Zac replied.

"Thanks. Let's go." I said. “Oh and loser has to try to wash dishes tonight.”

“It’s on! “ Zac said.

We dove into the ocean. Zac was really good at swimming, even as a merman. We swam by dolphins, sharks, we even swam into a trench, we raced, and we discovered that we could talk through our minds underwater. We actually tried to actually talk, but it did not end so well.

I gotta say, I was glad that we had a more awesome friendship. But I would tell him about my past for another time. Today was swimming/bonding time. After all it was not every day for Zac that he finds out that his sister was a mermaid, not exactly.

Call me crazy, but I think I had seen the future, and it still has got a bundle of adventure with me and my big bro.


	11. Zac returns to Mako

I was in the pool, listening to "Get Set" by this band called Taxiride. It's actually a pretty good band. I was not really swimming. My brother was. I just lying down on the pool’s floor. Zac too was listening to music. See, Zac managed to buy us water proof music players.

"Blair." I heard Zac’s voice in my head. Being underwater and talking with minds was kind of creepy.

"What?" I answered.

"Our friends are here." He said, pointing his finger upward to the surface of the pool.

"What friends?" I asked.

"Santos' nieces." Zac replied.

"Do they, you know. Know of us?" I asked.

"Yep. I told them about you." Zac smiled.

"ZAC!" I mentally screamed.

"Hey I leveled with them, by accident.” Zac said. “So we can trust them."

If I came from the future to this time, I would have to said to him, “Boy were you wrong.” But that wasn’t possible. I popped up my head to the surface to find 2 blond chicks and the same raven haired from my first day of school.

"So you're Zac's little sister?" a blond girl asked.

"Yep." I replied. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Sirena.” She replied. “That’s Lyla on my left.” She gestured to the honey blond girl.

"You don't look like him for a ginger." Lyla snapped.

"And what is that supposed to mean, “for a ginger”?” I asked putting hand air quotations at the “for a ginger” part.

“Nothing.” Lyla said, putting her hands up in surrender.

“Seriously?” Zac asked Lyla. “You met my sister and you’re already referring her to her hair?”

“That’s just Lyla.” Nixie said. “She’s just jealous cause she’s being the snappy blondie she is.” Unable to hold it in, we all burst out laughing at Nixie’s outburst.

5 minutes later…

Me and my bro got dry and entered Zac's room. It actually used to be a boathouse until Zac begged and pleaded his parents with his infamous “Pouty Zac face.”

"It's much easier to think underwater." Zac said openly.

"Sure is." I heard Sirena. "I mean it must be so peaceful down there." I raised an eyebrow. "I can see things very clearly.” Zac said. “That's why I'm going back to Mako. I've got to find out how I got this way."

"But what if something else happens to you?" Lyla asked. "It's not a place to be on your own."

"You're welcome to come with me." Zac reminded them.

"Uh yeah, we're going to have to think about that one." Nixie stated.

"Sure. I understand.” Zac said understanding. “I appreciate everything you've done for me, but I'm going back to Mako today."

"I'm coming too." I said out loud.

"Why? What's there to see?" asked Lyla. "

“I was thinking, since my mother was a mermaid, maybe Mako has some sort of clue as to who or where she is out.”

“What if you get hurt?"Sirena asked me with worry. “Mako’s a dangerous place full of strange things.”

“I’ll take my chances.” I snapped back.

20 minutes later…

I arrived at Zac's room all ready to go. I had a waterproof backpack of water bottles, towels, a camera and a whistle. The whistle was for if I got lost.

Lyla came to the door to my surprise. I asked what she was doing alone. She said that she can do whatever she wants.

"Zac? You still here?"

"I'm just about to leave." He said.

"I'm coming with you and Blair." Lyla announced.

"But Nixie said-." I said before Lyla cut me off.

"I make up my own mind." Man, that girl was stubborn.

"Cool, we can go in Cam's tinny." Zac said with hope.

"We can't. We'll get hit by the spray." I interjected.

"So we get tails.” Zac said to me. “It's not like we have to hide it from each other anymore."

"Zac, I have actually tried going in a boat, and the next thing that happened, I was stuck on the bottom of the boat flapping around with a tail.” I deadpanned. “Not something you want to experience."

"Blair's right.” Lyla stepped in. “I'll take the boat, you two will swim and I'll meet the both of you there in an hour." I couldn't put my finger on it but something didn't seem right about this girl.

An hour later…

We arrived on the very spot Zac, Cam and I went camping that night. It was like I wasin a history textbook.

"Looks pretty spooky, even in daylight." Zac said.

"Why did you camp here then?" Lyla asked.

"I never thought of that before the weird stuff that changed me." Zac mused.

"That only happens when there's a full moon.” Lyla said. “I hope."

"Ok. So we stick together and look after each other, okay?" He said looking at me. Having Zac as an overprotective brother, was a little creepy. Even to this day he still is a little overprotective. "I can't remember which way I walked from here." He said standing up.

"Hey Zac." Lyla said. "We should go this way."

"How do you know?" I asked.

“It looks like someone's been through there." Lyla explained.

"I guess." I said.

"It's worth a try right?" She asked.

We arrived at a bunch of rocks. So far, I didn't see anything strange.

"I think that this is the spot." Zac said.

"So where's the cave that you went into?" I asked.

"I don't know.” Zac replied. “Maybe it wasn't here."

"No trust your first instincts.” Lyla said. “They're usually right." Zac looked around before stopping, as if to recall a memory.

"This is the place.” He finally said. “That's where it happened." We approached a narrow wall of rock where Zac touched it, as if to find something like a secret lever. "But I don't understand. There should be an entrance here." What should I do? I wondered.

Line break…

We couldn't even find a secret button to let us in. I didn't see how we were going to get inside.

"Well we're not getting through that in a hurry." Zac said.

"Why don't you try your powers on it?" Lyla asked. Why didn't I think of that?! Zac stretched out his hand and his face turned into a mask of concentration. I wonder if he had the same powers I had. The only power I've seen him do is super speed swim, and transforming into a sea creature. Sighing, he gave up.

"I'm going." I repeated what Zac did only to have my face turn pale as I noticed that on my finger my ring was gone. I was never without it. Well there was no sense in turning back then.

I stopped in desperation.

"Keep going." Lyla said.

“Let me help.” Zac said, raising his hand as I did with mine. And sure enough, the door opened, revealing a tunnel with golden light. It was amazing.

"Did I do that?" we both asked at the same time.

"How else could it have happened?" Lyla asked.

"I'm taking everything I said about you being crazy on that Sunday morning." I said.

"So what now?" Zac asked me.

"We enter." Lyla boldly said. We walked into the cave. For a moment, I thought everything was made of gold. Behind me, I heard a light rumble.

"No!" Lyla cried in fear. I looked behind only to gasp in horror as I realized too late that the door closed by itself.

"This isn't good." Zac remarked.

"Oh you think?" I snapped.

"What if we used our powers again?" He asked. We held our hands out and concentrated. Nothing was happening.

"We're trapped." He finally said.

Line break…

Zac tried to push against the wall. I didn't see how brute force was going to make it budge.

"Sorry." Zac said. "I guess I got us into a pretty tight spot."

“I’m the one to blame Zac.” I said.

“No you’re not.” He said putting a hand on my shoulder.

“Yes I am.” I shouted. “I came to look for my missing mom and I sort of encouraged you to come because I know how protective you are.”

“That’s cause it’s my job Blair.” Zac said assuring. “I’m the big brother, you’re my little sister. None of this is your fault.”

"No, it's my fault." Lyla interjected.

"Why say that?" I asked.

"I encouraged you Zac, which encouraged Blair.” She said. “And I chose to come."

"Why did you?" Zac asked.

"You couldn't come by yourself.” She said. “What if something happened to either of you?"

"You worry about us that much?" Zac asked. Lyla hesitated for a bit before saying, "There's gotta be another way out of here."

We walked around the cave. It seemed pretty standard: One way in, no way out.

"There's no way out." Lyla said dejectedly.

"Well that's kind of a defeatist attitude don't you think?" I asked. "What about that?" I pointed to a large brass circle. It had a symbol on it which seemed really familiar. I didn't mean as in déjà vu. I meant as in it was so familiar, I felt I had seen this before. I opened up my bag and took a picture of it with my camera.

"What is that?" Lyla asked.

"I've seen it before." Zac explained. "But it was glowing like there was this bright light behind it. When I touched it, the floor must have opened up and I fell."

"This vanished?" Lyla asked. Then out of nowhere, Zac grabbed Lyla waist and mine. "What are you doing?" Lyla asked confused.

"Don't worry, I've got you both. In case it happens again.” Zac said before taking a breath. “Here goes nothing." He stretcheed out his hand, and I do the same thing. Nothing happened.

 

"This day can't get any weirder" I said out loud. Suddenly the symbol glowed as Zac walked towards it. "And it just did." I said taking back my words.

"You're affecting it." Lyla theorized. "It's glowing because of you."

"I remember I did that when I touched it." He did said thing and suddenly the door disappeared, revealing a swirling vortex of water.

"What is that?" I asked.

"I don't know." Zac answered.

"Do you remember this?" Lyla asked.

"No." Zac replied, unsure what was going on.

"It's almost as if it's alive." Zac and I walked toward it, eager to see what was on the other side.

"No you'll get a tail.” Lyla cried stepping in front of us to stop us. “Maybe even something worse. What if we get sucked into the depths for good?"

"This is what we came for." Zac said, holding my hand. "I have to find out what happened to us, Lyla."

“I’m with him.” I declared as Zac gave me a look that said, “Are you ready?”. I replied by nodding to him, meaning “I’m ready.” We stepped into the "portal", like heroes taking the next step to their journey. The next thing I knew, I was in what looked like this universe of water with a tail along Zac. As I looked around, the “door” seemed to close.

" The door’s gone! We're trapped!" I screamed in my mind to Zac.

"Calm down sis!” Zac said. “Let's just find a way out."

"In case if you haven't noticed, there is no way out." I snapped.

"Wait what is that?" Zac asked me.

"What is what?" Zac tapped my shoulder and I turned around to see something that I could swear was made of gold, shimmering in the distance. Zac, being the curious lad he was, swam toward it, and I followed him. Just as we were about a foot away, we heard Lyla's voice saying, "Zac! Blair! Come back! Guys! Can you hear me? Guys! Hurry! We don't have much time!" We swam back as fast as we could. We reach the door coming out with legs. I heard Zac say something, but I couldn't hear it because I screamed, "We have to get out of here, now!" We ran to the door, and all of us are out, but the door closes. To my surprise, I saw Sirena and Nixie standing there.

"What are you guys doing here?" Lyla asked

. "Looking for you." retorted Nixie. "What was that?"

"It's the tunnel I told you about.” Zac answered as he turned around only to realize the door closed. “It's gone! It's the one I went into the night everything happened to me." He tried to open it but no luck prevailed. "I did it before. Why can't I do it now?"

"Who cares? Let's just go." Lyla said.

"I wanna know what that thing I saw was." Zac protested.

"Whatever it was, we can't go back in now, that way to close." Lyla argued.

"But I wanna know what it all means." Zac whined.

"It means, this is a dangerous place and we're lucky." I shot back. "We'll swim back, and meet all of you back at home."

Back at home…

"There was water all around us, high above and deep below." Zac explained. "I can't explain it. This object was floating in the distance. I should have just kept going. I should have taken it."

"Maybe you weren't meant to." Lyla interjected.

"Why do you say that?" I asked.

"Just a thought." Lyla said.

"I'm gonna go back. And I'm gonna get it this time." Zac announced.

"No." Lyla said.

"But I have to do it." Zac protested.

"Just don't go back there without me. It's too dangerous. Promise?" Lyla asked.

"Ok. I promise.” Zac said. “Hey we make a pretty good team, even for you Blair."

"Thanks." I smiled sweetly. "Can I get you something to drink Lyla?"

"No I should be going." She spoke standing up.

"You sure?” Zac asked. “I mean I could talk about this for hours."

"I've got some things I need to do. Bye." With that note she left.

"Zac, we don't know what we're dealing with here.” I spoke out loud. “Maybe we should study this object before searching for it."

"Or we could just get it like we almost did." Zac suggested.

"Yeah when we almost died.” I snapped. “Look, Zac, what you know you're doing is okay. What you think you know is dangerous. My point is this: I think you're a little too curious about this. You're just jumping to a conclusion too soon."

Zac then put his hand on my shoulder, and walked me to a large mirror next to his bed. "Blair, Blair, Blair.” He said. “We're merpeople. I mean, you, my sister who is a fish hybrid, and I'm a merman. We're basically that awesome to handle anything including this object. So what I'm saying is that, what's the worst that can happen?"

"Ok first off: I'm a Half-Blood.” I stated. “And second all I'm saying is that if this object is a deadly weapon and it falls into the wrong hands, we could be in serious trouble." Oops. I did not realize that I had jinxed our luck. Probably my life.

"Blair, it's only an object in water. I mean how much trouble could it be?" He would have no idea how gravely mistaken he was for being cocky.


	12. I don't believe in mermaids

Me and my gang were in my room, doing a history project. We were researching Napoleon Bonapar.

"I've been giving this some thought." Yukimi spoke up.

"About the project?" I asked.

"No. About the visions Blair's had." She stated matter-of-factly. "I think I get it. Blair? Do you remember how Nerida spoke to you through your mind that night? It all makes sense now. All the dreams are really just one single dream. And that single dream is really just a messaged memory."

"You're saying that Blair's aunt is trying to tell her something that points out the true nature of her past." Rosalina pointed out. We all looked at her perplexed. Rosalina was usually the one to make jokes all the time.

"You actually understand what Kimi's talking about?" Helen asked.

"I do understand people. I just don't realize it much." She pointed out. "What about the symbol you took a photo of, Blair?"

"What about it? I just know I've seen that symbol. It's so familiar." Kimi said.

"It's a giant salad tong." Rosalina sayid jokingly.

"No." I deadpanned.

"I got it! It's forks!"

"Stop guessing." I said. "Obviously it's got something to do with aquatic mythology."

"But from which myth?" Helen asked.

"The god of salad tongs!" Rosalina yelled.

"Quit it!" Kimi yelled. "It's on the tip of my tongue and I can figure it out. If you'll all just go away and LET ME THINK!" Yukimi may be a nerd, but when it comes to her temper, that's an anger that just will shiver your timbers.

As I walked outside, I peeped into the door, and saw Kimi trying to think, looking at the photo I took. Teresa came upstairs to see what the commotion is. Suddenly, I turned invisible.

"Oh. Forks?" She asked.

"For the hundredth-oh!" Kimi sighed in exasperation. "It's driving me crazy, Mrs. Blakely! I know I've seen this before but I just can't remember where!"

"Calm down, Yukimi." Teresa said with consideration. "I know your gears are turning. But you must calm down. Deep breaths. Breathe."

"Ok." She took a deep breath. "I'm calm and… GOT IT!" She ran out of the room, carrying her laptop.

She goes downstairs to meet the others. I turn visible and follow her. "Guys! Guys!" She screamed. "Follow me!" We all followed her to my room.

"Kimi! Wait!" Helen cried.

"Just hurry up!"

She opened up her computer and whipped up a page.

"I finally figured out where else I've seen this." She said.

"Where?" I looked on her computer. I soon figure out what it meant.

"A trident? That's what was inside that massive pool?" Helen asked.

"I had heard legends of it but I didn't think it was real." I said.

"That's said for your other half as well." Rosie remarked.

"What is a trident doing in a pool on land out of a merfolk's reach?" Kimi asked again.

"I'm guessing that it must have done something pretty bad." Rosalina points out.

"Yeah, but what?" I asked.

"I've been researching that. I can't find anything." Kimi retorted.

"Whatever that trident did, mermaids didn't want anyone to know about it." Helen remarked.

"Should we try to get it?" Rosalina asked.

"And risk our butts handling something that could potentially hurt us?" Helen asked. "Are you crazy?"

"She's right." I interjected. "Until we find out what this thing is capable of, we're not going near it."

"What about Zac? He saw it." Rosie pointed out.

"If he's got a clue, we'll look into it." Kimi said. We all agreed. And headed back to finish our project.

Line break…

We all finished it. We've gone swimming. But none of use dared to mention the trident. I was now lying in my bed tossing and turning. I couldn't help but wonder about this trident. I bet whatever it was, it was pretty important. Right at the moment, I was not so crazed into it. Zac on the other hand, was. Ever since we came back, he had been obsessed with it. I know he was curious, but there's something about this trident, that made me not want to tell him what I know. I've cross matched the word trident with every website on the internet. And the only thing I could find, was Poseidon's trident. If this was kept hidden for centuries, then what was it created for? A weapon of death and destruction? A symbol of power?

I didn't know, but I was for sure going to find out a whole lot worse. And I had a feeling that my aunt wasn't telling me something.


	13. Close Call

I was at the reef swimming happily with the fish. It was night time and the moon was in its phase as a waning gibbous. A few more days and it would be another full moon for me to deal with. For me it would be a piece of cake. But for Zac… I wasn't so sure because it has been almost 2 months since "The Incident" happened. And by "The Incident", I mean of course the night Zac got turned into a merman. How that happened, I had no clue. A little feature I should present. Under the moon light, or whenever the sun set, my tail would turn a silver color, along with my bikini top. Pretty cool huh? By day, my tail was gold, but by night, silver.

I swam back, somehow knowing that the time was 9:15.

12 hours later…

As I paced in my room, I couldn't help but think about the trident. You see, I had already researched a bazillion facts on my abnormal genetic heritage. But this topic, was hot on information. Zac had become a little obsessed with this one object. For me, it screamed "Bad! Do not touch." I guess it had something to do merfolk criminology. But which crime? I wondered.

I wasn't sure if I should have curious about this trident. I'm guessing if it was locked away, it wasn't because it was a toy for kids to play with. I thought. However much power it packed to draw Zac to Mako, it couldn't have been good.

"Blair, we need to talk." Zac came into my room. He then told me of his encounter with what he said was another merman on his swim back from Mako Island. I was a little shocked, because there's only one tail I've seen before, mine and Zac's. I first concluded it was another eterothaleís but when he told me the tail was bronze colored, I then figured maybe whoever had that tail had a different color. I figured that all mermaids and mermen have different tail colors. But then I thought about the mermaids I encountered that night Zac became a fish boy. I tried to think about their tails. But the problem was, I kind of didn't get a really good look at their tails because I was too busy freaking out.

Line break…

Lyla was visiting. As usual, Zac filled her in on what happened.

"No way it was a fish." Zac told Lyla.

"But you said you only saw the tail." She tried to explain.

"Yeah and I've never seen a fish with a tail like that." Zac retorted.

"Maybe it was a dolphin." Lyla concluded.

Zac scoffed. "That was no fish and it was no dolphin either."

"Turtle?" Lyla asked. Zac shook his head. "What else could it have been?"

"There's only one place, I've seen a tail anything like that before: on me." Zac theorized. "There's another merman out there."

"Or an eterothaleís." I said.

"I really doubt that." Lyla said dejectedly.

"Why?" I asked her. "Why would Zac and I be the only ones? No one's seen us. Who's to say there aren't others like us?"

"Think about it Blair." Lyla protested. "Your brother's got the trident on his mind and suddenly he's seeing mermen/eterothaleís."

"That was no myth I saw." Zac said. "That was real."

"We should go out and see if that person is out there again." I suggested. "If we look in the reef, we could probably find him."

I hour later…

"Underwater caves?" Zac asked.

"That's what Evie said." Cam replied.

"There could be anything down there!" Zac cried.

"Or anyone." I interjected.

"You know, she's kind of worried about you, Zac." Cam bluntly stated.

"You haven't told her anything." Zac asked worried. "Right? About with what's going on with us?"

"Wait, does Cam know about me?" I asked.

"Yeah. I kind of told him" Zac muttered.

"ZAC!"

"Hey, chillax fish girl." Cam said assuredly. "I haven't told her anything. All that stuff about the creatures, I just told her that you were having some kind of obsessive compulsive meltdown."

"As long as you covered for us, thanks." I said.

"Hey you can count on me." Cam said.

"I know I can. Thanks, man." Zac said. "You got it. Ah come on in." I turned around and I saw Lyla and Nixie walking in the door. With that note, Cam left.

"What's happening?" Lyla asked.

"Actually we're just on our way out." I said.

"Oh anywhere interesting?" Nixie asked.

"There's underwater caves around Mako." I answered. "No one knows what's down there."

"So?" Nixie said.

"So anything could be hiding in there." Zac said. "Or anyone. We're gonna find out."

"You really think that's a good idea?" Lyla asked.

"It's worth a shot." I replied. I left Zac's room and I ran to the jetty and dove into the river. I then used the time I have with legs in the water, to look for Zac, and I saw him walking. But then suddenly, I felt my legs fusing together, and I know I just popped a tail.

"Hey Zac!" I shouted.

"What?" He replied.

"Watcha waiting for?" As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I made a dive into the river, splashing Zac with water. I turned around and I see Zac in his merman form, in the water narrowing his eyes at me. "Don't do that again please." He said.

"Sorry. Let's go."

About 20 minutes later…

We were out searching for the "mystery merperson." So far, nothing, Nathan, nada. Zip. Zac gestured me pointing upward to surface.

"Find anything?"Zac asked me.

" If I did, I would have told you 5 minutes ago."I snapped. "You?"

"So far, nothing." Zac replied.

"Great so this is a waste of time?" I asked.

"Not really if we keep looking." Zac said.

"This is the nine thousandth piece of slab we've checked out." I said, tired already."I really don't think we're gonna find what you saw."

"Let's just try one more time."

We split apart and keep our eyes peeled. The only abnormal thing, or things I was seeing them were me and Zac.

Line break…

We were back at the Zac's place. We had struck nothing on the remaining time we had spent looking.

"We were out looking for caves." Zac said. "Couldn't find anything."

"No fish hybrids or mermen?" Lyla asked.

"Nope." I've been swimming in the reefs, since I was 10 years old, and not once have I seen caves." I said.

"What do you mean since you were 10?" Zac asked.

"When I turned 10, I started swimming in the sea longer because I just had this need to swim out there. You tell me."

"I guess it must have been a dolphin I saw." Zac sighed dejectedly. "So you're gonna say I told you so, Lyla?"

"Maybe." Lyla simply replied.

"Oh it would have been awesome to have found someone else like us." I said. "Just to have someone to talk to who knows what it's like having a tail all of a sudden for Zac, and to have someone who understands how much pressure you have when you're born like me."

"I'm happy to talk about it." Lyla said.

"Me too." said Zac.

"Lyla I'm pretty sure you don't have one… do ya?" I asked.

"No I guess not." Lyla replied disappointed.

"And Zac, the only huge difference between us is that I've actually lived my whole life with my body turning into a fish. If you think having a tail is bad, try having webbed feet when you're 11 years old, or your feet turning into giant fins when you're 12."

"Those things actually happened to you when you were growing up?" Zac asked worried.

"Yep."

"Then why didn't you tell me?" Zac held my hand, looking into my eyes, as if he was trying to connect with me. "I could have helped you cope."

"You were human back then, there's no way you could have understood." I said.

"There you are." I heard Evie.

"Bye guys." I said walking to the door. As I walked to my room I pondered for a second. There was something about Lyla and her posse that didn't seem right. I mean, Sirena had a ring just like mine. I could think of only 2 places where she could have gotten it: Either from a mermaid or the sea floor. Nah, there's no way Sirena could be a mermaid. I said to myself. Maybe she found it somewhere. If she were a mermaid, she would have told us. Maybe zac and I were the only ones of our kind. But maybe… maybe there are other's like us out there somewhere.

Something was going on, something big. And I had a feeling I was born signed up for a part in it.


	14. Betrayal

I became surrounded by darkness. Have you ever see one of those movies in where the private eye wakes up after being knocked out cold? He always says the same thing: "Where am I?" Ok, it's not exactly original, but it's true. I had no idea where I am. Suddenly, a bright light appears, revealing to be my aunt wearing a long blue dress.

"We meet again Blair." She spoke caressing a hand on my cheek. "It's time you knew the truth." The scene changed to a pool in a cave. I recognized it immediately. It was the place where I learned the truth behind the death of my father. In the pool was a tall athletic man. He had black hair and eyes the color of the sea. There was a resemblance between me and that man. We had the same eyes and the same face structure.

"I shouldn't have dragged you into this, any of your family." My aunt said in regret next to me. "But you're in, and you need to know. I need to tell you. 500 years ago, The Oracle looked into the future. When your parents got married, 15 years ago, a prophecy had begun. An omen that would lead you to make a very important choice. That's why the council tried to kill you when you were so little and it's why no eterothaleís has existed for 500 years until you were born."

Right then, 2 mermaids popped up to the surface. One of them was my aunt but younger, but the other had black, noticeable freckles, and startling green eyes, that seemed to know what's going to happen.

"Kailani?" My dad asked. "Why was I summoned? And who's that?"

"You were summoned Harry, because your wife already knows the fate brought upon your daughter." Kailani said back.

"What fate?" My dad asked.

"I am Silby." The raven haired mermaid said. "Oracle speaker of the prophecies of the council, defeaters of the Army of Triton. Approach seeker and ask."

"I heard that there was some fate brought upon my daughter." Harry said.

"Correct." Silby continued. "But before you learn the future, know first the past. Long ago, before you, before me, before most of us, mermen ruled the world. Using the trident, a weapon so destructive, not a single mermaid stood a chance against it. One merman saw wrong in his kind's actions and helped the prisoners escape. They destroyed the mermen army, and banished the trident, to the depth of a chamber on Mako Island. But, the trident is fated to be released from its prison. To lead a mermen to power over Mako… and the world. Only an eterothaleís, a half-blood child, conceived and carried by a mermaid and a human, can destroy the trident once and for all. This child, shall be our salvation, or the cause of our destruction. It all begins when a forbidden romance is sparked. A bond of love between 2 different worlds of the sea, and the world of land. And 2 nations shall conceive a child born from sea and land who shall reach 14 against a demand. And to see her mother's pod in endless fear. For the boy's soul, cursed weapon shall nearly cost dear. A single choice shall result in the betrayal of a friend, Mako Island to preserve, or end."

I stood there, stunned as a deer on a road. I could not believe my ears.

"Aunt Kailani." I spoke. "The mermaid council was really willing to kill me, when I was a child all because of some stupid prophecy they heard half a century ago?"

"Yes." Kailani said in sobs.

"What if it's wrong?" I asked.

"Some things cannot be denied Blair." Kailani held my hand. I allowed a few tears to slip on my cheeks because I couldn't help but feel responsible for my father's death.

"Is there any chance, any chance at all that my daughter, might not be the girl in the prophecy?" Harry asked shocked from all this.

"Silby, the current oracle in the world had referred to a half blood, my niece is the only living half-human, half-mermaid in the world." Kailani pointed out. "The prophecy could only refer to her."

"What if she destroys Mako Island by not being able to save it?" Harry asked.

"That seems to be the question doesn't it?" Silby asked in reply.

"But how will she be prepared for this? For who she really is?" Harry asked.

"She is bound to find out sooner or later and when she does, she must know." Kailani said.

"Yes Nerida." Silby said. "She must know, and you must be the one to tell her. But you must also warn her that she must make her choice wise. Loyalty will be her enemy."

I woke up startled, breathing heavily. I walked to my window, and opened it. I then took the time to think about what I had just witnessed. All of this was a lot to process. If this was all that I must be, could I still be myself, or was I just simply one part of something planned? Now what?

Rita's POV

"Wait!" I called out to the girls. "There is something you should know." A month ago, Nerida had told me that her niece was alive. It was time to tell the girls the truth about Blair. Perhaps, she is ready to know. I could only hope she would understand who she was. I was not even aware that she knew of the prophecy.

"Girls, this is difficult." I began, turning to face them. "But it is time you all knew the truth. The child I had thought I had lost in the plane crash, Thalassa, is Blair, my daughter. Fear became flame, and flame darkened my family in smoke and death, and in that darkness, my sister hid my baby away. I thought she had perished, but she was raised by Zac's parents as their daughter, and made into the girl you know today."

There was a deadpanned silence. I feared the girls may have saw then Thalassa as a sister or as an enemy.

"This can't be! There's no way 4 year old child could have survived 100 ft. drop!" Lyla was the first to speak.

"Lyla, my sister healed her in time with her moon ring, the same moon ring she carries today."

"This has to be some kind of joke Rita!" Nixie yelled.

"Nixie I know how hard this is to accept, but it's true."

Sirena said, "Wait a minute, Blair is your daughter and has been all this time?!"

"Yes." I held back tears. Maybe tonight I could be reunited with my long lost little girl.

"Rita, it doesn't matter!" said Nixie. "She's still our enemy, I mean she was raised by land people, by Zac!"

"How can we ever trust her?!" Lyla exclaimed.

"There is good in her, I know this." I looked at the photo of my husband me and my 3 year old. "The truth must be told."

I could only hope she makes the right choice. Thalassa, I'm so sorry.

Back to Blair at the Ocean Café…

I now sat at the café. I could see Zac and Lyla sitting together. No, not together, together. If they were, Zac would be digging his grave. He probably was, because the second they held hands, Evie came in. Not good. I escaped the scene to avoid any drama whatsoever.

Line break…

I was then in Zac's garage, putting tape on black window blinds. He was out getting food.

"I sure hope this is going to work." I said to myself.

"Don't worry Blair." Sirena said assuredly. "You can push through the moonlight."

"It's not the actual moonlight I'm worried about." I said to Sirena. "It's if Zac can keep it together." Considering he didn't have as much experience I did in dealing with the full moon, I was not so sure he knew what he wa doing.

But suddenly, my buddies came in. But the way they looked at me, it looked like they didn't want to be my buddies.

"Thought we'd find you here." Helen said, with her hands on her hips.

"So you all know about fish girl and her brother."Yukimi scowled.

"You told them?" Lyla whispered in my ear.

"Guessed." I replied meekly. "Look guys, I get that you're trying to help me, but I have people to help my brother. Right?"

"That's right, with our help, Blair's brother can get through this." Lyla stood up for me, determined. "We're also willing to help Blair."

"It's ok." Nixie said. "You three can just leave it to us."

"And just what is it that makes you 3 such experts?" Rosalina asked. "You know nothing about her, and I'm pretty sure that she knows nothing about you."

"Rosalina Gomez! Just drop it." I said.

"It's ok." said Sirena. "We've got it covered."

"You need your friends here." said Kimi. "Not strangers."

"We're not strangers anymore." Lyla interjected.

"Ok so where are you from?" Yukimi asked. "Why did you come to visit?"

"Yukimi Hamasaki!" That was it, these girls were pushing my buttons. I had about enough of them. "That's enough, so back off."

"No they haven't answered yet." said Helen. "And I wanna know why."

"Because it happens to be none of your business, Helen Carter!"

"The full moon is rising and Zac needs be in the right head space, you're breaking his focus." Lyla sneered.

"You wouldn't know a thing about what he needs!" Rosie spoke up. "You don't even know what Blair's been through!"

That was it. I couldn't take it anymore. So I telekinetically closed their mouths before they could speak, moved them out of the door, and locked it. If only I had listened to them…

Line break…

The full moon had already risen. I could feel its energy coursing through me. Zac however, was having a little too much energy because his breathing pattern was heavy.

"Blair you gotta do me one favor." Zac pleaded to me. "If I give in, you're gonna have to knock me out, so I don't go weird."

"But Zac…" I wouldn't do it. I would never hurt my brother.

"Just promise me!" Zac looked at me grabbing my hand in desperation. "I'm counting on you."

"Deep breaths." I said holding his shoulder. "I'm here, I'm here." I hold his hand. Suddenly a window fold opens letting a small moon ray in.

"I'm sorry guys." I heard Nixie. She held out her hand and as she pulls it back, the black window blind opens allowing moon light to flow in. A sliver of light goes into my ring. I knew that it was being charged. There's no choice.I raised my fist to try to knock Zac out, but he looked at me and used his powers to send me flying to the wall, hitting my head. Luckily, I had no injury whatsoever. But I saw Zac make his way to the door and I followed him.

"Zac come on." I cried out to him. "Please listen to me! It's me Blair!" But it iwas no use because he ran to the dock and jumped in. I followed him and in a matter of minutes, we arrived on Mako. Zac was walking like a zombie or something. I followed him to the chamber where the trident was kept. But I was too late to stop him from going in the swirling vortex of water. Thinking of nothing else other than saving my brother, I dived in as well. I just hoped was still sane after tonight. He grabbed the trident and looked at me from his side, smiling in relief to see me. We engage in a hug but out reunion was cut short, when I noticed something I didn't expect to see: Lyla, Sirena, and Nixie, with tails, except their tails were bronze, not solid gold like mine. I felt a pain, a combination of betrayal, distrust, loss, and disgrace. I actually mouth one word: No. Lyla swam up and grabbed the trident. Instantly, the trident starts sparking with energy. But a flash of light occurs and I felt myself landing on the ground. I look up and I saw the 3 girls with shocked expressions on their faces.

"You! I trusted you!" I said with utter rage. I ran outside and everyone was out.

"What are you?" Zac asked them. I give my brother a "really?" look. He could be so aware of some things and completely obtuse to others.

"We're mermaids." Nixie answered simply.

"Same as me and Blair." Zac pointed out.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call you a mermaid…" Nixie started before cut off by Lyla.

"Shut up Nixie." Lyla scowled. "Yes. What happened to you Zac, was by accident."

"We leveled about us." Zac began. "But you've been lying this whole time?!" It didn't take a genius to know that he was furious. "You've known from the start. And all of that stuff about keeping me away from here, you'd knew that I'd come and you followed?"

"We had to keep you away from the trident." Lyla interjected.

"So I wouldn't get it?" Zac asked.

"You don't know what it can do." Lyla pleaded.

"Blair…" Sirena reached out to me, but I was so mad, that I slapped her across the check.

"I thought you 3 were better than this!" I shouted to her face. "I thought you were my friends! How could you deceive us like that?!"

"Blair. Blair please forgive us." Sirena pleaded.

"Why should I?" I snarled.

"Because Rita Santos, she's your mother." Sirena stated. "Your true mother!"

I stood there, silent as the stars that night. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. My principal is my mom? Wait, this meant that she's a… no that's impossible.

"LIAR!" I shouted. "You'd say anything to trick me again!"

"No!" Lyla tried to reason. "No we swear it! She's your mother, your name is Thalassa Santos!"

"Forget it." Zac finally said.

"Zac…" Lyla tried to talk to him.

"We trusted you." Zac said plainly. I was too shocked to say anything. "We trusted all of you."

Just as I am about to leave, Sirena grabbed my arm, but I back away from her.

"DON'T!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. "DON'T TOUCH ME! You three keep away from me. I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOUR FACES EVER AGAIN!"

I ran and swam home. In the middle of my room, I cried. I cried so hard, even in bed I cried. For some reason tears never triggered my transforming. I cried because I was tricked all this time and those girls kept the truth of my mother from me all this time. It's one thing to lie to someone who has something in common with you, but to keep your mother's identity from you? That took the cake. And my trust for them.

6 a.m the next day…

"Blair?" I hear Zac's voice next to me in bed. My bed. I woke up groggy and he was sitting on the bed in his pajamas.

"Yeah?" I asked. "How did I get in my bed?"

"I came up to see how you were doing and I saw you on the floor." Zac explained. "Your tear stained face looked like you were crying. I then put on your bed, so you could have a comfortable sleep."

" I was crying as a matter of fact." I stated bluntly. "I just couldn't believe that those girls lied to us and kept who my mother was from me."

"I can see that." Zac retorted. "It must have been a shock. I mean, you; the principal's daughter?"

"It just doesn't seem possible Zac." I said. "I mean if she knew I was alive why didn't she go looking for me?"

"Maybe she didn't know you were alive." Zac suggested.

"Ok. But how did those girls know?" I asked.

"Who really knows Blair?" Zac put his hand on my shoulder. "I mean those girls did lie to us. Maybe they're just messing with you."

"I guess." I sighed. "But there is a certain resemblance." It was true. I had my father's face but me and Rita did have the same hair, nose, and build. But I was a lot skinnier than she was. And a little more tomboyish. But not as tomboyish as Helen. No one could beat Helen Victoria Carter in being a tomboy.

"I promise you. We will find your mom." We embraced in a hug as though we would die if we were separated. "We're going to get through this together, we're pals and we'll always be together. I promise Blair, no one is going to hurt you anymore."

Line Break…

I swam to the cave where I had met Nerida in person. I had been there a few times, but for a look around. As I surfaced I heard the voices of those traitorous mermaids.

"What about Blair?" I heard Sirena.

"I still can't believe that little brat is your daughter!" I heard Nixie. "Um sorry to be so honest."

"Perhaps one day, she will understand the truth. But that is her decision." I heard Ms. Santos speak. I swam back to the jetty and dried myself. I couldn't believe it. Was I really Rita's daughter? Who was telling the truth? Who was lying? What was going on? What was I? Who am I?

Line break…

I was online chat with my reformed buddies. I did tell them what happened. You wouldn't believe how many "I told you so's" there were.

"Dude, I can't believe you trusted them!" Rosalina said.

"I can't believe that you didn't trust us enough to tell us who they were!" Yukimi said.

"I was wrong." I said. "I'm really sorry."

"We forgive you." Helen said.

"I knew it! I knew it!" said Kimi. "You never should have trusted them."

"But she did, and so did Zac." Rosie said.

"Problem is, I gave them more than my home address." I stated. "I gave them me. My flaws, my weaknesses. Everything they would ever need to know."

"Next time they try to trick us we'll be ready 'cause nothing's gonna break us apart." Rosalina announced.

The girls signed off to go home and I saw Zac and Cam walking towards his garage. I followed them and I see my ex-friends.

"Well, well. Look what the net dragged in." Cam joked.

"Zac?" Lyla spoke up.

"Yeah?" I snapped back.

"I'm sorry." She said.

"Forget it." Zac scoffed.

"Now would be a good time for you to leave." Cam sneered.

"What does this have to do with you?" Nixie asked Cam.

"I'm on their team." Cam replied cooly.

"We were trying to save your brother, we thought the trident would kill him!" Lyla said

"It's true!" Sirena sided with Lyla.

"I don't believe you." Zac said coldly. "You want the trident for yourselves."

"No way!" Lyla interjected.

"Because you want the power." Zac said.

I finally spoke up. "I saw how you grabbed it. Lie all you want but my brother's getting the trident, and nothing's going to stop me from helping him." As we walked inside, I tugged Zac's arm.

"Zac. Prepare yourself." I whispered to him. "Because as of this moment… we are at war."


	15. Battlelines

I was surrounded by darkness. Again. Then the scene changed to a plane flying but everything was frozen as if time stopped working. Suddenly I heard a voice. Silby's.

"Blair, those girls are telling the truth.” She said. “You'll see why. 10 years ago, your family was headed back to America. A place where you would be kept from the mermaids until you were ready to know. Only two of your family survived. My predecessor foretold that someone would make a choice. An eterothaleís. But she never could have foretold, whom. So Veridia ordered the eterothaleís population to be exterminated until you were born 500 years later. But you should know that not all council members are evil. There are no evil councils. Only evil leaders.”

The scene changed to a bunch of mermaids all gathered around as if they were in a meeting.

“And so ladies.” A mermaid with a tiara in her head. “That is why this prophecy must end.” All the other mermaids looked speechless.

“Veridia, can we just talk about this?” A blond mermaid asked.

“There’s nothing to talk about. It’s the only way we’ll be safe from that abomination.” Veridia said.

“Veridia.” A black mermaid spoke up. “I want to protect one of our houses of the moon but if Slade finds out that we’re killing a half blood before he does, we’re all going to get killed.”

“Do you think I care about that Lena?” Veridia asked coldly.

“Veridia you’re asking to make a huge mistake.” An Asian mermaid said.

“Lin is right.” A Hispanic mermaid said. “This isn't some law you can decree, this is a person. You’re talking about ripping a family apart.”

“We’ve done it before, we can do it again.”

“Not like this.” Lin said. “This is crossing the line! This is a child!”

“Are you saying that because of your daughter?” Veridia asked her. “Need I remind you of where her place is now? What she has done? Need I also remind you of your grandchildren are? But it seems I have been outvoted. I will not carry out my decision.”

“If only that were actually true.” Silby said surprising me. I had forgotten that she was there. “Veridia has cut corners and ignored true justice to get where she is. One of those corners was listening to her fellow councilwomen whom she ignored. On that night, she snuck out and found the plane you were in.” Veridia then held her hand in a fist under the full moon. A flash of blue light escaped from the moon ring and tunneled through the engines. The scene then changed to inside the plane. A younger Rita Santos was holding a 4 year old toddler fast asleep in her arms, along with her husband. I already knew who that kid is: Me. I tried to touch my dad, but my hand just phased through his head.

“This is a memory Thalassa.” Silby said. “You are intangible and invisible.” A loud jolt shook the plane.

"Attention passengers this is your captain speaking. We seem to have hit turbulence so fasten your seatbelts." I heard on the intercom.

Everyone did so. But Rita’s husband got up and looked in the pilot area and found both the pilot and co-pilot unconscious and the autopilot not on. He flipped it on but it does not work.

“This is Harry Santos. Over.” Harry spoke into the radio.

“Where’s the pilot?” The plane safety manager asked.

“He’s unconscious and so is the co-pilot.” But the radio goes dead.

"Harry what happened?" Rita asked entering the pod. She had a worried look on her face with her daughter holding her daughter in her arms.

"Rita, listen to me.” Harry announced. “Get everyone off the plane. I'll try to keep it up."

"No.” Rita protested. “No Harry, you don't know how to fly a plane!" 4 year old me started to stir but Rita’s moon ring glowed on her and she went to sleep.

"Rita go!” Harry shouted. “I'm right behind you."

With that, he shut the door, doing whatever it was he did. Rita opened up a compartment filled with parachutes.

"Grab one." She says to the other 25 passengers, as she tosses out the parachute bags. Then all of the passengers and the flight attendants with their own parachutes jumped off the plane into the sea screaming with panic. Some of them even went on life boats. Just as Rita finished putting on her life vest on her sleeping daughter. She then tried to open the cockpit but the door was shut tight.

"Harry, open the door!” Rita exclaimed.” We're going!" As Harry opened the door another wave of force hit the plane making it shake.

"Rita, take our daughter, and get out of here!” Harry shouted.

“Wait what about you?” Rita asked.

“You’re my wife.” Harry stated putting a hand on her shoulder. “You and our daughter are my number one concerns.”

“No! I’m not gonna leave you here!” Rita shouted. “There’s gotta be another way. I’ll think of something! I always do!”

“Rita!” Harry shouted. “There is no time. I have to keep the plane in flight long enough for you to make a safe landing and for me to call for help.”

"No, I'm not leaving without you!"

"Rita, it's me or Thalassa, you chose." Harry looked at his wife, knowing that it was the last time he would see his family. “Remember, I will always be with you two.” Harry looked at his daughter with love before hugging and kissing her. “Thalassa, I love you so much. You’re gonna grow into a strong girl you know that? You’re gonna help so many people kiddo. So many.”

Rita pondered for a minute before hugging him. "I love you." She said in her hug with her husband.

"I love you too." He replied. "Go!"

Rita then jumped off the plane with a parachute and me in her arms. But as she jumped off, the plane exploded. Out of nowhere, 4 year old me was sent flying into the ocean as if someone yanked me from her arms.

“NO!” Rita cried. “Thalassa! Rita tried to use her powers to bring me back, but she was too late as I crashed into the ocean, severely injuring me. But I turned around only to see what I wish I never saw: The plane's cockpit with my dad still in there hurling into Africa and crashing into the strip of land. Even I was swept out off my feet as the crash occurred. I was in shock as I felt numb with too much sadness

"His name was Harry." Sybil said. "And he gave his life, to save 27." I turned my attention to little me as I sank, pale as a ghost. "And so, as you lay dying, when you were so little, your brave aunt, found another way for you to live. A way for your mother to live. Protection, to ensure no lives would be wasted again."

Nerida is using her moon ring's energy to draw energy from the ocean itself into baby me. Once the healing process was complete Nerida slipped on her moon ring onto my finger.

"The moon ring she gave you;" Sybil explained right on cue. "To protect you from those who lived for your death."

"Come on." Kailani whispered. With that note she swam off.

“You hit the ocean pretty hard Blair.” Sybil said. “You spent about 10 months in a coma. Nerida blocked your powers until they were ready to come. And your memories. But you have great power Blair, ancient elemental power. But that will not come yet. Keep in mind, you have severe amnesia so there will be some memories you will never remember.”

“Then how will I get my memories back?” I asked.

“Just remember: When you reunite with the person you’ve missed the most, your memories shall return to their host.”

End of dream.

I woke upright in my bed shaking. I had just witnessed my father's death. And my supposed one. And so, I jumped out of bed, and as I jumped off the jetty, I raced to Mako. About 10 minutes later, I come across the shores of Mako Island. I came on the beach and as I dried, I sat in shock for about 5 minutes. I then started crying out of nowhere. I'm pretty sure I cried for an hour.

"Hello." I perked my head upwards. That voice, I'd know that voice anywhere. I turned my head around and I saw Sirena in a blue dress standing over me. Great. Just great. My ex-friend to make my day worse.

"Sirena?" I asked.

"Hello Blair.” She put a hand on my shoulder but I scooted away from her. “ Are you ok? I heard you cry."

"Oh me crying?" I sneered. "Why I'm crying is in a place called, None of. That's short for 'None of your business.'" She looked hurt. I could see tears forming up in her eyes.

"So, what's up?" I almost snorted at Sirena’s attempt to make conversation.

"Oh you know, the usual.” I snapped back. “Homework, watching my brother compete in the swim team. Oh yeah! My brother can't compete in the swim team or any public water activity, because he's dealing with a life that involves being part fish."

"Blair, look… it wasn't completely our fault, but I'm sorry."

"Not as sorry as I am!” I yelled at Sirena. “I want to be left alone Sirena. I can't even trust anyone anymore! But one thing's for certain. I'm never trusting you ever again! Because everything you've ever told me and my brother was a lie! I never want to see you again!"

I let some tears escape as I cry some more on my spot. I feel a hand come on my shoulder.

"Blair. Some things are just hard to understand."

"Look Sirena, I'm a little busy being traumatized here because I just witnessed my father's death. So please do me a favor and GET LOST!" She took a few steps back, looking really hurt. Then she dove back into the water. Ok, maybe I was a little mean then, but I needed some privacy, and she just had to interrupt my train of thought.

Line break…

The school day ended kind of silently. As I left the café, I saw Zac and Cam walking down the beach. With nothing else to do, I ran down to the beach to say a quick hello.

"Hey guys." I said.

"Hey Blair, what's up?" Cam asked. “Man you look wasted. Did you get any sleep?”

“I’m fine.” I quickly lied. Zac looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Nothing much is happening, you?"

"Santos said that my grades were falling down the drain. And that I need a good reason." Zac said dejectedly.

"You must have copped an earful." Cam theorized.

"That's the weird thing.” Zac explained. “I didn't. I couldn't quite understand what she was on about. But it was like she was warning me I was getting a bad report, and I'd better have a good reason."

"Sounds like that was the reason." I sarcastically drawled.

"You two don't think that it's because the mermaids have told her about the both of you?" Cam asked.

"Maybe." I mused.

"But there's no way that she's their auntie." Cam said.

"Maybe they lied to her too." Zac suggested.

 

"Maybe they didn't have to." I said. “I mean, if she’s my “mom” I began putting up air quotes around the word, “mom” in emphasis. “That must mean that she’s…”That's when it dawned upon us all.

"A mermaid!" We all said in unison. "Only one way to find out." I announced. If this woman was a mermaid, and possibly my mother, I had to find out. By now you would expect me to square with it but seeing as how I was lied to all this time with my brother and the identity of my mother being my principal (possibly) I just couldn’t accept it. At least not yet.

The next day…

Me and Yukimi were in the storage office. It was early so we were able to sneak in there. Today was Rita's meeting with Zac and my adoptive parents. They were discussing his grades. I just hoped he doesn't do anything stupid. Yesterday, after school, Zac told me to bug Ms. Santos's office with hidden cameras and microphones. When I asked him why, he only told me that he was going to show this to Cam. He also told me to get a communication device, so I could help him. If he wanted to talk with me, he had to text me. If he talked, then Rita's would know. And that would not have been good.

Kimi did something on her computer that allowed us to hear and listen all of the meeting.

"Thank you so much for coming in today, Dr. and Mrs. Blakely. You too Zac."Rita said on the computer.

"To be honest, we're really surprised that we're having this conversation." Teresa said.

"Zac has always had excellent grades." Rob said.

"That's right. But when academic performance falls below expectation, I'm obliged to intercede." Rita explained.

"We understand." Rob said.

"But it's just not like him. To not do well. It just makes no sense." Teresa said.

"Well hopefully we can clear this up this morning. Would you like some tea?" Rita asked.

"Yes. Black with one for both of us."

I turned on the hearing device I had in my ear. "That's Anna." I spoke to Zac. "She's really clumsy, especially around water."

"I'm sure Zac has a simple explanation and ummmm!"Rita stumbled away from spilling water. Score 1. "And that there's… really nothing to worry about."

"So it can happen that good students' grades fall, we just need to get him back on track. Zac…" Rita turned her attention to Zac. "Think of something quick! You don't have much time to plan ahead Zac." I spoke in the device. "I'm sure you've been wondering why all of this happened, and no doubt by now you've got a helpful explanation for us."

"Well I asked him what the problem was and he said that there wasn't one." Rob said.

"I see.” Rita said. “Well, distractions can happen. There's relationships, sport, friends…" Her attention is focused on the moving water. I could tell that this was Zac's doing.

"Can I say something?" Zac asked.

"Uh, yes, go ahead." Rita replied.

"Sometimes misunderstandings happen right? I mean, it's possible that your interpretation of my results is wrong."

"Seriously Zac?" I spoke into the mike. Did I mention that my brother is a bad liar? Well he was doing pretty good then.

"Uh I don't think so."

"You're either getting the results or you're not Zac."

"Oh I don't know, Dad. There are a lot of students at this school. Maybe my grades got confused with somebody else's. That can happen can it Ms. Santos? Maybe there was a computer glitch?"

Rita's attention was focused on the moving puddle of water. When it was about to come to the edge of her desk she quickly stood up.

"Um, it's possible." She said nervously.

"Then you can look into that?" Zac said assuredly. "You can look into that? You can find out where the mistakes might have been made? And see that my marks haven't dropped at all."

"Yes, I guess it could have been an administrative error."

"Thank you. Then I guess we're done here."

"That's really all it was a mistake?"

"Ms. Santos said so, didn't she? I'd better get to class."

On that note, Yukimi closed her computer and pulled out a disc, containing the entire meeting. And I ran to where Zac and Cam told me to meet them at the lockers.

"Hey guys." I called out.

"Did you get the tape?" Cam asked me.

"Yeah, so what are you going to do with it?" I asked.

"Simple." Zac retorted. "We'll look it over, and then we'll think of a way to keep her under our thumb." That struck me like lightning. What Zac just said, indicated that he was going to do what I wished he would never do: expose Rita Santos. If she was exposed, we would be next.

"What? Are you crazy?!" I said.

"What's seems to be the problem?" Cam asked.

"The problem is that Zac told me to bug Santos' office and record anything strange." I turn my glare to Zac. "You never said anything about exposing her."

"Ohhh.” Zac mock winced. “Now I'm sorry that you've been reduced to a hired gun." Zac said sternly. "But I believe, we made a pact Blair. And as your surrogate brother, I expect you to honor it. After all you do understand family, don't you?" I narrowed my eyes on him, giving him my deluxe death stare. I then made a run to the girls bathroom. I looked into the mirror.

"Oh. Oh no! How could I have been so blind?" I whispered to myself.

"You ok Blair?" Yukimi walked in.

"Kimi, what have I done?" I needed to get to the 3 girls. And fast.

"Blair, are you ok?" She asked.

"Yukimi, all my life I was raised in a kind family. I know that they could never replace the family I barely know. So when Nixie told me that the principal was my mother, I couldn't accept it. But now, I'm beginning to have doubts about Zac's honor."

"Doubts against your brother?” She asked. “Really?"

"Yes.” I answered. “Even now, I have inadvertently helped him formulate a plan for revenge against her disciples. He's trying to expose her. But, I can't let him do this. If Rita's exposed, we're next for experimentation."

"Even if it means going behind your brother's back?" Kimi asked.

"Yes Kimi.” I said. “Even if it means betraying Zac."

"Blair, you've just made a pact with him. You can't just go behind his back. This is about those girls! They want to bring us down."

"So do the scientists who want to inject needles in me and all of the existing merfolk out there.” I retorted. “This may be our only chance to save me and my brother’s tails from a close shave. Do you really want to pass that up?"

Yukimi pondered for a minute. "Ok watashi ni tomodachi (A.N that’s Japanese for my friend), your call. But why do you need me?"

"Because you the genius here.” I said.

“Blair. Compared to you, I suck at strategizing.” Kimi said. “You, my friend, are an world class planner.”

“I still need your help.” I said. And to start it, we need those 3 girls."

"Are you kidding me Blair?” Kimi asked. “After what they hid from you? What makes you so sure they won't trick you again?"

"There's an old saying Yukimi, 'The enemy of my enemy is my partner in crime.'"

"That's not exactly how it goes.” Kimi said. Ok, I'll help you. I don't think this is going to work. But I trust you."”

"Good, now we just need to find where the 3 girls are."

"I'd say the first place to start is the Ocean café, since they go there every day."

At the café…

We arrived there just in time to see the trio leave the café. It's now or never.

"I sure hope you know what you're doing." Kimi whispered in my ear.

"If I didn't know what I was doing, I wouldn't be doing this would I?" I snapped back. Taking a breath, I walked up the trio. I clear my throat. Lyla looked at me with hate in her eyes.

"Girls, I didn't come to fight.” I said, putting my hands up in surrender. “I came to talk."

"Really? Why should we listen to you?" Nixie said.

"Look, I want help you help Rita." I explained.

"Really?" Sirena asked with hope.

"No of course not." Lyla retorted. "We're enemies, you want wreak vengeance on us, you're loyal to Zac, and do I need to go on?"

"Look, if Zac exposes Rita, we're dunzo too.” I said. “That makes our little fight seem pretty pointless doesn't it?"

"I doubt Zac would agree." Sirena said.

"Zac is stubborn and short sighted.” I retorted. “He drives me crazy. His stupid plan for revenge is going to take us all down. He may not be able to see that but I know you do. What do you say? Work together for now?"

They remained silent for a minute.

"Why is she here?" Lyla looked at Kimi with a death glare.

"She's trusted.” I said. “Because she's one of my best friends and she has a plan."

"We have our eye on you, Asian freak." Nixie muttered. (A.N no offense Asian people!)

“You got a thing against Asian people?” Kimi asked with a threat lingering in her voice.

“I will if you don’t cooperate with us Nip.” Nixie snapped back. I glared at Nixie with a promise that she had better not be racist toward my friend. Last time somebody called Helen the N word… well trust me you don’t want to know.

“Watch it Nixie.” I muttered close enough for her to hear. “Zac’s half Asian.” To be honest in reality, he was half Thai by blood, but we just didn't know it yet.

"Blair, you're really willing to go behind Zac's back?" Sirena asked.

"Look, his revenge scheme has to be stopped.” I declared taking a step toward her. “If he's not going to realize what the consequences of his actions will be, I'll make him see it. With your help, or without it."

There was a deadpanned silence. I wondered if the truce wouldn’t cause too much trouble.

"Alright here's the deal, your friend here fills us on her plan, and we'll team up. But no funny business." said Lyla. We shook hands as a sign of peace... for now.

"Alright, let's get to work." announced Kimi. "Sirena go far west, Nixie comes with me, and Blair goes with Lyla. We'll tell you when to use your powers. What we're doing is simple, Blair does the work, you guys get the credit"

At Zac's house…

Zac was in the backyard, doing his homework, completely oblivious to us. Lyla and I were near the door to Zac's garage, Nixie and Kimi were behind the fence, and Sirena was near the tree. At the corner of my eye, Kimi gave me a thumbs up. I stretched my hand and used it to make Zac's hand with the pen scratch the paper, and then I used it to scribble all over his homework.

"Did you have to mess up his assignment?" Lyla whispered into my ear.

"No." I whispered back. "But it is hilarious."

Deciding to have a little more fun, I made Zac "drop" his notebook. I couldn’t wait for more stuff to happen. This was actually starting to get fun. I rose up from the bush after a minute, and headed toward Zac's garage. I turned around and I saw Zac and Evie running off.

"Ok Nixie, get ready." Kimi said. "Blair will create dark clouds to cover up the entire sky, then on my signal, you will create the actual rainstorm. Lyla, turn invisible and place your hand on Blair's shoulder." Lyla does said thing

"How do you know such things, for a land person?" Sirena asks.

"Because, if Blair can do it, so can you guys.” Kimi replied. “Blair go, wherever you are."

I stretched out my hand, and a blanket of dark clouds, looking like a hurricane was coming, and covered the entire sky.

"Zac's in position." Kimi announced. "Nixie, go." Lyla turns invisible. After a bit, with Zac running in the shed cause he got wet, I then saw the trio walking out of Zac's room. I walked up to them.

"The truce is over." Lyla said her voice lined with determination.

"Let's finish this." Kimi said.

"Forget it. Next time." I chuckled a little.

"What?" Sirena's face turned into a mask of confusion.

"Swim away fishies, before I change my mind.” I said. “But don't think that this is going to last. Tomorrow, it's game on!"

"And we'll be ready to play." Lyla retorted. The 3 girls walked off.

Sirena's POV

To be honest, I was actually impressed. That Blair girl had one brave spirit. I was already so proud of her. She looked so much like her mother except for the eyes. They were her father's eyes. And from what we heard of Harry, she has his spirit.

"Maybe there's hope for her. She could join our side." I said.

"I still don't trust her." Nixie said.

"Are you kidding me right now?!" Lyla shouted. "She helped save us, Rita, the pod, Aquata, herself, and Zac!"

"That's my point Lyla. Zac raised her. Face it, she may be Rita's daughter but she's still a Pigblood."

I gasped. I couldn’t believe Nixie would say such a cruel word.

"Nixie!” I screamed. “How dare you utter that word! Don’t you dare let me hear you say that word! You have to have faith Nixie. She's been and going through a lot of stress. She's being challenged on everything she knows. Trust me, the truth will set light on her future. Just give her the time she needs to take this in.

“She'll come round." Lyla agreed.

"Personally, I hope she doesn't.” Nixie said. I don't trust her. Not for one second."

I just hoped that the prejudice against eterothaleís will end someday…

Back to Blair, the next day…

I was completely confused. About everything. Even about my own name. Who was I? Blair or Thalassa? I had to know if I was really Rita's daughter. And I knew one person I could rely on who knew more about me and my past than anyone. After school that day, I planned on seeing her. You're probably asking, how am I going to find her? Well, since I could speak dolphin, I could locate Delphin. If I found Delphin, I find Nerida. But then at the moment, I was heading toward the office where I was supposed to meet Rita. I arrived there, and I prayed I was not in trouble. I sat in the black chair in front of her desk.

"Blair, why did you help me?" she asked. That was a big shocker. Why did I help her from being in danger? To this day, I still don't know. Was it because that I had accepted the truth deep inside? Was it because I was really fed up with this trident business? Or maybe was it because I was simply trying to save myself from being exposed?

"I… I… I'm not sure.” I answered, stammering over my words as they came out of my mouth. “Maybe because you're so pathetic." I know, I know. That was really rude and inconsiderate. Rita then walked to me and brushed her hand on my cheek.

"You’ve grown into such a beautiful strong mermaid.” She said. “You have your father's spirit. So brave and yet so scared." That was it. I had just about enough of this.

"NEVER SPEAK OF MY FATHER EVER AGAIN!" I yelled in her face. Rolling my head down, I blinked tears. "Your council murdered my father. Your disciples ruined my brother's life." I ran out of the office, fighting my tears. It was a good thing tears still don’t pop my tail.

I returned to my locker to get my stuff only to find a note taped on there. I looked at the signature and it was from Rita. I open it and it says in neat cursive: "You are who you chose to be. Not what others make you."

Line break…

The school day had ended. I ran to the jetty and dived into the water.

Hello! Any dolphin nearby? I yelled mentally out at the reef.

Mermaid! I hear a dolphin next to me.

Do you know Delphin? I asked.

Yes, why?

 

Do you know where he is right now?

Yes, why?

I need to see him.

Follow me.

I did so and I saw a bunch of dolphins all together. One of them came to me. Somehow, I recognized him as Delphin.

Hello. What can I do for you? He asked.

I need to see Kailani, my aunt, do you know where she lives? I asked.

I do but I can't take you there.

Why not? 

It's an ancient law, you can't trespass on a pod's territory unauthorized and without permission.

I don't care, I need to see her now.

Fine.

We swim for miles fast and arrived at the open ocean which I somehow knew was the South Pacific. There were tons of mermaids swimming by. We hid behind a bush of seaweed to avoid being spotted by some mermaids passing by. Without even realizing I was doing it, I concentrated on the ocean around me and I could sense my aunt’s presence. She’s right behind me isn’t she? I thought to myself.

Yes. Yes she is. I jumped, well sort of but you get the point. I stiffed as my aunt smirked at me in mischief.

Not funny. I thought back in a snappy reply.

I thought it was funny. She said. Let’s move to somewhere else, before you’re spotted. We swam out back to Mako where we resurfaced in the moon pool.

"Hey." I said to her.

"It's great to see you." She replied. "What can I do for you?" I looked at her in the eyes. It was time to know.

"Kailani, tell me the truth.” I pleaded with her. “Is Rita Santos my mother?" The cave was filled with silence. Her eyes filled with tears. She swam toward me, looked me in the eye, and put her hand on my shoulder.

"Yes." She finally said after what seemed like an eternity of silence. "The fact that Rita Santos is my sister, is just as true as the fact that she is your true birth mother."

And then the world exploded. Well, my mind did anyway.

"What?" It all clicked in my head. The principal was my mother? I couldn’t believe it! They weren't lying. All of these years she was right under my nose, and I never noticed. I blacked out in shock. Complete and utter shock

I woke up on the jetty. I was all dry, thank goodness. I remembered the conversation with my aunt as clear was the sea. Then I understood. "A single choice." The prophecy stated. That was the choice I had to make. It's the reason loyalty is my enemy. I had to chose sides. I even had to choose my name. It was either Blair or Thalassa. The worst part, I had to betray someone. Who? Would I betray the mother I barely know? Or would I betray the boy who I called my brother? A person who raised me and gave me love and a life and made up for that time when the other kids in the orphanage bullied me? Who was it going to be? Rita or Zac? I knew even then, as a mere 14 year old child, I knew I had to do the right thing. But how would I do it?


	16. Sirena's Secret

No one's POV…

An African-American merman was swimming peacefully, trying to find ingredients for his paintings in his cave, when he spotted a rush of glowing seafoam. He caught it and swan back to his cave. It was filled with sea creatures and paintings of past, present, and future events. He put the glowing seafoam in a shell that used to belong to a sea turtle that died and mixed it with sand and seafoam. He then grabbed a clam and eats the contents of it after opening it first. But suddenly, the seafoam glowed a brilliant silver and orange. He looked closely and saw a mermaid in the sea foam. She had dark red hair, a long gold tail, and eyes that looked like the ocean's surface under the full moon. He knew that face all too well from his vision a decade ago.

"Thalassa?" He asked. "She's alive? She's alive!" He laughed in pure joy as he swam to a painting of a young mermaid, scooped up some wet red powder and painted it on the mermaid's hair. He then painted another mermaid, an older one, one who looked suspiciously like Rita Santos.

"It is time."

Back to Blair, at the ocean cafe…

David was holding auditions for singers. I didn't really think that I should audition, what if I lost control of the Voice again? Nah forget it. I thought. It was one more thing to get my adoptive parents so paranoid; they'd bolt the windows and lock the door for 3 days. It's a miracle Zac hasn't planted a tracking device on me. I once used my powers in a Talent Show, but it backfired and attracted every single boy who was in a mile of the stage! And that's why I am never allowed to have a private conversation with a boy without a chaperone, ever. I got up and left the money for my soda on the table. I have a lot to think about. Normally a swim would cheer me up, but now, whenever I look at my tail, I see a freak. By now you would expect me to get used to it, scales and all, but the fusing of my legs still give me the creeps. When I was growing up, every single year, something weird started happening to me. When I was 6 I started breathing underwater, 7, started talking to dolphins, 8, I got the Voice, 9, got the rest of my powers, 10, scales started popping up my legs, 11, my toes became webbed, 12, my feet literally became flippers, 13, my legs fused slowly by each month, and 14 is when I got my tail. Not a fun experience, especially if those things happened whenever I got wet. I was too deep in my thoughts to walk into the front door of my house. Oops. I ran to my room and took a nap. I needed to get the stress away somehow…

Rosie's POV

Here I was at the Ocean Café. I was auditioning for David's auditions. Hey, Blair was not the only one who can sing. Right then, Sirena was up. Of course she was going to get the part. I'm still pretty sure no human can sing better than a mermaid, except maybe Beyonce, Rihanna or Pitbull (A.N, no offense Amy Ruffle, in case you read that. Your voice is awesome.) I was only auditioning just for the heck of it. Sirena's voice is still awesome. I turned around and I saw Nixie and Lyla doing some kind of trick with their fingers. Suddenly, Sirena's voice went so high, glass pieces shattered. She ran out the door and I followed her to Ms. Santos' house. I then tapped on her shoulder to see how she was doing.

"Are you ok?" I asked. Apparently she was not ok because she was crying hysterically. She may have been my best friends' enemy, but that doesn't mean I still can't lend a hand when someone's crying. I opened the door and led her to the living room.

"Rita, we have a problem! It's me, Rosalina Gomez!" Right on cue, Rita ran to me and sat Sirena down on the couch with her arm around her.

"You, a friend of my daughter, helps the one who betrayed her? Why" Rita asked with worry.

"Just because she hurt Blair, I mean Thalassa." I straightened up at my mistake. "It doesn't mean I can't have a heart. Like how she helped you." I replied. "And I'm not leaving until those girls apologize."

"Those girls?" She asked, doing her signature eyebrow raise. She usually did that whenever she got suspicious of something.

"I'll explain later but can you get something that will cure her voice?" I asked her. "She… sort of lost it."

Rita ran out of the room and I put my hand on Sirena's quivering shoulder. To me, she still may look 15-16, but deep down she still like a little kid full of youthful innocence. Rita returned with a bowl that looked like a shell bowl with a clear fluid and hands it to Sirena.

"Here sip it slowly." Rita instructed assuredly. "It's seaweed from the Galapagos Islands and soft coral from the waters around Fiji. You'll have your voice back in no time. Do you feel like telling me how this happened?" In response, Sirena just continued crying harder.

"She doesn't." I answered for Sirena. "But I do. Sirena, sip your medicine while we talk." I followed Rita to a bookshelf while I explained everything to her on the way. When I finished, she looked at me with disbelief.

"We'll need to ask Sirena on what happened." Rita pointed out. We walked back to the living room where I saw Sirena looking a little less traumatized.

"Sirena, are you ok?" I asked. She nodded, but I knew better.

"Sirena. We need to know what happened from what you saw." Rita said. "Now, Rosalina, who did this again?"

"It was Nixie and Lyla." I answered

"Sweetie, did Nixie and Lyla do this to you?" Rita asked her, sitting down on the table.

"Sirena, you don't have to protect them." I said to Sirena calmly. "What they did was terrible." She nodded as a yes.

"Ok." Rita stood up, clapping her hands together once as if she came to a decision. "It's clear that they're not going to walk away with this. Rosalina, I need you to come up with a suitable punishment, since you were there."

"Ok. I'm working on it." I agreed plainly. At that moment, Nixie and Lyla walked in. Nixie was the first to notice me so

"Hey wuss. Why are you here?" Nixie asked. I raised an eyebrow.

"I'm here, because I may be one of Blair's best friends, but that doesn't mean that I can't help people in need." I answered coolly. "And for the record Nixie, I may be a Hispanic goof ball, but there's more to me behind the smile I usually have."

"Lyla how can we trust her?" Nixie whispered to Lyla. "She's got to be a spy for Zac. She's using Sirena to get to us."

"What do you have against Blair anyway?" Lyla asked.

"She's a half blood." Nixie hissed back at her. "A spawn of a union that is never meant to be."

"I think the politically correct term to describe Blair in her case is 'traumatized child'." Lyla whispered back. I giggled at her description.

"Who cares?" Nixie asked. "They're two faced, illegal puer, and treacherous. They can't be trusted."

"Girls!" Rita yelled.

"Sirena are you alright?" Lyla asked.

"Does she look alright to you?" I retorted glaring the fastest, strongest, sharpest wind current at her.

"We can explain." Nixie tried to reason. I scoffed at her attempt. What Nixie was trying to do was just like trying to say you didn't take the last cookie from the jar.

"Oh really?" I sneered. "Then explain the face she has. Do you see her smiling? Because I don't."

"Shut up." Lyla snapped at me.

"Sirena we're you're friends." Nixie said, trying to make an effort. "We didn't want you to make a terrible mistake."

"Friends?!" exclaimed Sirena, taking the words out of my mouth. I had never seen her like this. I had never seen her angry. Believe me, you don't want to. "Do you think that this is what friends do?! You embarrassed me in front of all of those people."

"We didn't want to do that." Nixie retorted. "You just weren't listening to us about David."

"Being with him would wreck you life." Lyla added on.

"You just did that." With that she continued to cry. I just stood there with my mouth agape. It was unbelievable. Nixie and Lyla, her two friends actually had the nerve to go so far as to screw up their friend's personnel life? I was beginning to doubt if all mermaids were friendly.

"Sirena, Rita left the pod for a land boy." Nixie explained. "She could never come back." Ok so Thalassa's mother left her family for someone she loved. Big deal. I thought.

"And that Pigblood of her daughter was another mistake she added to that decision." My blood ran cold as an El Nino.

"Nixie." I growled, my hazel eyes blazing with anger. "What did you just call my best friend?" If Nixie just called my best friend what I thought she just called her, I'm going to kill her. I thought.

"Do you never want to see Aquata again?" Nixie asked, ignoring my question.

"I don't want to be a part of a pod that treats me like this." Sirena said hopelessly. "I would rather have legs forever."

"You can't mean that!" Lyla cried.

"I can't feel any worse than I already do." Sirena said, looking like she was on the edge of the breaking point. "Now I know how Thalassa feels. I thought I had real friends! Obviously not." She ran out of the living room to some corridor.

"So much for trying to keep her close." Rita said with anger lining her words. "I'd say you two just pushed her further away. And Nixie, if you ever call use the term, 'Pigblood' against my daughter in front of me, you won'tever be welcome in this house. Do you understand me?"

"Rita?" I asked. "What's a Pigblood?"

"It means 'tainted blood'. It's a name of hate used toward someone who's the spawn of a human or a merperson. Someone like Thalassa. It's used to remind others how eterothaleís should not exist because the union between humans and merkind is illegal. It's even against pod laws to feel affection toward a human."

"You can't be serious." I piped up, not willing to believe this set of rules.

Rita sighed with sadness. "I am powerless to be otherwise."

"That's horrible!" I yelled. "Who do mermaids think they are to control what people think or how they feel?" Rita turned her attention to Nixie and Lyla.

"Girls, I want you to meet Rosalina at the school field."

At said place…

"What are we doing here?" Nixie asked.

"Girls line up!" I yelled. They did so. "You both are participating in one heck of an adventure. Probably the biggest adventure of your lives. Moon rings then getting stealing Zac's powers. You excited?" They nodded. I went into a mode which I sometimes go into: Serious mode. "Ok. Now I want you both to know that you did a nasty thing today. A really nasty thing. Did any of you ever stop to think that Sirena has feelings? Do any of you ever stop to think? Oh you think she's deluded don't you? Well you're deluded. I saw just how deluded the both of you are. And thanks to that you're both running 3 miles. Follow the red line. And you're running the path 3 times, one time for each mile, on legs." They looked shocked.

"I'm not doing it." Lyla announced.

"Oh really?" I replied coolly. "That's up to you. That's up to the both of you but anyone who stops running, is suspended from your lessons. Yes I know you've had lessons. Rita's informed me of this. Any who, if you're suspended from lessons, no moon rings for you. While you're running, I'd like you to think long and hard about how you're going to apologize to Sirena. And how what it would have been like to have been Sirena."

Line break…

Their 3 mile run was done, so my work was done. I just hoped they actually did the right thing.

Back to Blair/Thalassa's POV…

I woke up from my nap. I tried to sleep all of the prophecy out of me but no matter what, I was still reminded of it every passing second. "A single choice." No, I couldn't choose. I didn't want to hurt anyone. So to try to take my mind off of things, I ran to the jetty and dove into the sea.

1 hour later…

After a good swim, I was pretty sure I'm nowhere near home. But I still couldn't get my mind off of the prophecy. They're wrong. I thought. Ican'tmake a decision to betray someone. I wish I wasn't born into this prophecy. It doesn't matter anyway. You can't change the past. I looked up to the sky.

"Dads are always there for their little girls!" I screamed. "But mine's not. And it's because of me being born. It's my fault. It's my fault." I cried slightly and dove back into the sea

Asante Sana Squash Banana,wewe ni Mermanna mimi ninasi!I heard a voice, a man's voice. I turned around and I saw an African-American merman swimming happily. I swam away to an arch of coral and I lay on there.

Asante Sana Squash Banana,wewe ni Mermanna mimi ninasiiiiiiiiii! Was he following me?

Come on, can you cut that out? I asked.

Can't cut it out, it'll grow right back. He replied laughing.

Creepy much? I surfaced to try to get some fresh oxygen. But he was following me and swam right in front of me.

"Would you stop following me?" I asked. But no luck prevailed as he kept swimming in front of me. "Who are you?"

"I believe the question is who are you?" He asked.

"I thought I knew." I replied. "Now I'm not so sure."

"Come here, it's a secret." He pulled me toward his ear. And he whispered something random. " Asante sana Squash Banana, wewe ni Merman na mimi nina si!"

"What is that supposed to mean anyway?" I asked confused.

"It means you are a merman and I am not." He chuckled slightly. Ooookaaaayyyy.

"I think you are a little confused, stranger." I said treading away from him.

"Wrong" The black merman popped up putting a finger on my nose. "I'm not the one who's confused when you don't even know who you are."

"Oh and I suppose you do?" I snapped back.

"Sure do." He said. "You're Harry's girl." I gasped. This merman knew my dad? He must have been an old friend of him.

"Bye." He dove in the water and I followed him to an open space deep in the sea where he's was meditating, I think.

You knew my father? I asked him

Correction Iknowyour father.

I hate to tell you this, but he died... a long time ago.

Nope, wrong again! He exclaimed. He's alive, and I'll show him to you. You follow old Rafiki, he knows the way. Come on!

With that said, I followed him using super speed swim to this shore on some beach. I surfaced on some rocks. I noticed it was nighttime judging from the rising moon

"Here." He gestured to this puddle of seawater. "Look in there."

I looked as hard as I could I only see me, with my silver bikini top and my clump of wet hair. "That's not my father, that's just my relfection."

"No! Look harder!" As he said that sentence he tapped his index finger on the puddle. I looked at my eyes and I saw him, my dad smiling at me.

"You see? He lives in you." The sky then got darker.

Thalassa.I hear my father's voice.

"Father?" I replied. A cloud of golden clouds swirled in the sky, revealing a man.

Thalassa you fear me.

"No!" I cried. "How can I?"

You fear who you are, so you fear me. My dad said. Look inside yourself daughter. You are more than what you have become. You must make the choice.

"How can I choose to betray someone?" I shouted. "I'm not who I used to be!"

Embrace who you are. You are my love's child, and you have so much potential it's not funny. Embrace who you are. He started to be pulled back into the heavens. No! I didin't want my daddy to leave. I just met him!-sort of.

"No please!" I screamed. "Don't leave me!

Embrace.

"Daddy!"

Embrace.

"Don't leave me again." I found a rock to cry on. I felt happiness and pain. was happy that I finally talked to him. But I was sad that he only spent, what 5 minutes? I felt a soft warm breeze, kind of like a hand patting my shoulder, metaphorically speaking.

"What was that?!" I heard Rafiki. "The weather, pleh! Very peculiar, don't you think?"

"Yeah." I mused. "Looks like the tides are changing."

"Oh. Change is good." He stroked his white beard.

"Yeah but it's not easy." I added on. "I know what I have to do but… going back means I'll have to choose a life. I've been kind of scared of what made mine so different for so long." Out of nowhere Rafiki formed a ball of water and hurled it towards my face. "Hey! Geez, what was that for?!"

"It doesn't matter!" He replied. "It's in the past!" Really? I wasn't talking about my past. "Now look at your tail half-blood." I did so. All I saw was my silver tail, a side effect from nighttime.

"What's your point?" I asked.

"That is the point." He pointed at my tail. "It's part of who you are! Just as the prophecy is."

"Yeah but the scales still kind of freak me out. I mumbled."

"Oh yes, life can be scary." Rafiki explained. "But the way I see is that you can either fear your life, or learn from it."He made another water ball and hurled it again but I froze it when it was inches away from my face."Ha! You see? So what are you going to do?"

I turned the iceball back into water with a smirk on my face. "First, I'm going to splash this back at your face." I did said thing then just as I was about to dive in, I heard,

"Hey! Where are you going?"

"I'm going back on my path!" I yelled back.

I super speed swan home when I realized something. This prophecy is my responsibility. You can't hide from the future or who you are. And Rita was right. I remembered her note clear as day. 'You are who you chose to be. Not what others make you' I couldn't be scared of what I had become. It wasn't easy but I had gotten through it with the help of my friends. I can do this. I just needed to get my head in the game. Now to make my choice…


	17. Truce

Kimi's POV

I was now finished with the shed! They were going to love this! Nothing says more quality time with your besties like a mass load of technology. But that was just me. I've already called them to come over.

Helen's POV

Me and my gang of gals are biking to Kimi's place. Assuming we got the directions right. We had never been to her place before. Apparently she has some surprise. Good thing that it was a sunny Saturday, otherwise if it were raining, Blair wouldn't even last 5 minutes without popping a tail.

"Uh remind me why we're biking to the brains of our gang, not knowing what she's got in store for us?" Rose complained.

"Because she called us over?" Blair retorted.

"Man!" I said. "This one had better be good."

Soon we arrived at was said to be her house. It was a very high class house because we were in the rich kids neighborhood.

"Hey guys." I heard Kimi.

"Uh Kimi." Rose began. "You wanna tell us why we're here?"

"Friends." Kimi replied. "Welcome to my house. I should have told you a long time ago but my family is kind of filthy rich. Matter fact I am mud rich." The house was a cross between a Japanese temple and an American 4 story house. The text I got said to meet her at the backyard. We ran to this shed that's painted cyan, Kimi's favorite color. On top were a bunch of satellite dishes and solar panels covering the roof. That was to be expected, since her mom and dad run this technology company. Lately it had been sponsoring solar panels as an alternative energy source. A door slid open, showing the tech nerd herself.

"So?" she asked.

"You turned your mom's old workspace into this?" Blair asked.

"Yep." Kimi replied. "All by myself."

"Kimi, have I ever told you that you're a genius?" I asked.

"No you haven't." She replied smugly.

"'Cause I am seriously considering it!"

We walked inside. You would not believe what was inside. Computers everywhere! There's even the latest one on the market. There's also a fridge! And an air conditioning vent! How she did it, I have no clue.

We all walk to a desk area with our favorite colors. Rosalina's is pink, mine's red, and Blair's is turquoise. Makes sense since she is part mermaid. I fire up my computer.

"Whoo! Did you just get this printer or was it in storage?" I asked.

"It's been in my basement for some time." She replies

"I thought you said that the printer was very old and it was highly unlikely to blow up." Rosalina points out.

"I fixed it."

"Kimi, you're a genius!" I'm sorry but it's the truth. The chick has in IQ of 150 in science and engineering.

"Why not set this up in your place?" Blair asked.

"Because, A, the equipment itself could make a lot of noise, B, my dad likes to keep the house quiet, and C, my place is Tech Center."

"That's it!" Rosalina exclaimed.

"That's what?" I asked.

"That's the name for this workspace, Tech Center!" Rose said.

We all blinked for a minute.

"That is the perfect name!" Blair exclaimed.

"Of course it is! You guys always underestimate me! And I know just the ticket to celebratoryness! POOL PARTY AT HELEN'S!"

Line break…

What has happened to my pool?! My beautiful pool! It's filled with bugs and garbage! Just then my mom comes out and is on the phone with someone.

"Girls, I know that you wanted to spend some time here, but the filtration system broke. Sorry." She says to me.

"It's ok Mom. We'll just simply go to Blair's."

At said place…

"I'll be in the pool."

"You're not coming?" Blair sounded confused.

"I am." I replied. "I'm just closing the door to Zac's garage."

As I am about to close it, I see Cam working in there. Hmm. Maybe I should just say a quick hello before I get my bikini soaked.

"Hey." I said.

"Oh hey, Helen. Come check this out. Got myself a new phone. Come check this out. How's the quality of those images? Man that phone's great."

I take a look at the images. Oh it's Zac with a giant blue tail. Wait it's Zac with a giant blue tail?!

"Are you insane?!" I almost yelled.

"Oh the soundtracks just a joke, I'd thought you'd like it." Cam said nonchalantly.

"What if someone sees that?" I started panicking.

"Oh no one's gonna see it." Cam reassured.

"How can you be so stupid?" I muttered.

"Chill out will you? Just testing the quality of my new phone."

"It's not funny Cam. Delete it. Now."

"Say, didn't you have something else to do?" Cam asked me.

"Might catch you later."

At the ocean café…

"I say we use Tech Center to stir up some pranks!" Rosalina exclaims.

"That's Diablo's job." Blair said. "He is the infamous Dr. Prankenstien."

"I'm just saying!" Rose exclaimed.

"Wait why are Cam and Nixie together?" Kimi pointed out.

"I don't know." I replied.

We walk up to the couple. Coincidentally, Lyla and her sidekicks were there as well.

"What's going on here?"Sirena and I asked in unison. We look at each other with shock. Apparently, Cam's phone which was "David" now has contains a video with Zac in the pool with a tail. Oh I couldn't believe how stupid I was! I can't believe that I forgot that he was downloading a video from his phone. Ugh I'm such an idiot!

"Why did you have to film him in the first place?" Rosalina asked.

"Ok." Cam replied. "It was a mistake. But if someone sees that video of Zac in the pool, Blair, Sirena, Lyla and Nixie, will be danger too."

"Well Zac should have never let himself be filmed." Nixie said.

"Sure Nixie, play the blame game on Zac here." Blair snaped.

"What am I being blamed for again?" Zac asked out of the blue. After we told him what happened, Zac tried to do this on his own, Lyla and her gang got Sirena to stick with David at all times. While we tried to form a real plan to get the phone.

"Hey girls, do you have one of your master plans cooked up yet?" Cam asked Kimi.

"We're working on it." She replied

Later that night…

Kimi's POV

Sirena does have an awesome voice. I'll give her points for that. Just as the song ends, David leaves the phone on the ground. Perfect timing for Blair to use her powers. The plan is simple: Get the phone, erase the video, and get out of the café. Infiltration only. I give Blair a thumbs up, and she stretches out her hand and the phone moves by itself. It's amazing how she can do that . My guess is that she some manipulates the water particles in the air to move things. Wait, why is the phone moving another direction? I see Zac trying to get the phone, and Lyla too. Now the phones going in different directions. It's a miracle no one's seeing what's going on, especially David. The song ends and Blair, Zac, and Lyla stop using their powers. David picks up the phone as it rings, and answers it.

"Hey Joe." Wait what? "Yes I'll lock everything up. Don't worry ok?"

"Why is his brother calling on my phone?" Cam asked. Ohhhh! Now I see it.

"Cam, that's not your phone, it's his." I replied.

"His?" Lyla asked.

"Yes Lyla, it's an easy mistake to make." Helen snapped. "They are identical."

"Well where's yours?" Zac asked.

"I don't know. It was on the counter." Cam explained. "Nixie moved it for me."

"Well, it must be in here obviously somewhere." Nixie theorized.

"If we all search for it, we're bound to find it." Lyla said.

"I don't need you to search for it. Any of you. So stay out of my way!" Zac exclaimed. "Blair we're going home."

Wow! Anger issues much?

10 more minutes later…

Blair's POV

Black jumpsuit, check. Ninja mask, check. My phone went off.

"Hello?" I asked.

"You ready? We're outside." I hear Kimi's voice.

"Yep. I'm on my way." I opened my window and I use my powers to lift myself from window stand onto the ground. Im falling, but at the same time, floating down. It was kind of like flying but at the same time it's not. I have tried flying by lifting myself, telekinetically but, it takes a lot of concentration. The first time I levitated myself off the ground when I was 11, it felt exhilarating, but terrifying. Normally, I would just open the door, but the alarm system is on. And Rob would kill me if he found out someone de-activated the alarm system. I sneak to the front, get my bike and turn on its florescent flashlight. We take off. All of us are wearing black jumpsuits and ninja masks.

"Did we have to wear ninja masks?" Kimi asked.

"Yes. It was Rosie's idea." I said.

We arrived at the outer restaurant and parked our bikes. We followed Kimi to an air vent, where she unscrewed the screws holding the vent.

"Are you sure we can fit through there?" Rose whispered.

"Dude, the vent is big enough for our heads, especially Kimi's. We'll be fine." Helen retorted.

"Let's go." I commanded.

We snuck in through the air vent. Surprisingly, it was easy to crawl through, ending up in the bathroom. It's a good thing we ended up in a non gender bathroom, don't even get me started about the Movie Theater Bathroom Incident. Ugh. We got out our flashlights and looked around the café.

"Hey girls." I heard Zac. "What's with the ninja suits?" He raises an eyebrow.

"Don't ask." Helen replied.

"I'm calling Cam's phone." Zac announced. "Everyone, shh!" We all stood silent for a minute. "No good."

"You sure it's still here?" Rose asked.

"She's never sure of anything." Lyla snapped.

"Everybody hide!" Cam hissed.

We all ran to the bathroom. Kimi opened the vent and one by one, each of use crawled through the vent. I saw a police car. Oh great.

"This night couldn't get worse." Rose whispered.

Just then I saw David pacing the perimeter.

"There's David." I whispered back.

"The universe just loves to prove me wrong, doesn't it?" Rose whined silently.

"You make it too easy!" Kimi hissed. We crawled out of the vent, got our bikes and zoomed off.

"That was way too close." I said. "We are not doing that again."

The next day…

Rosalina's POV

The ocean café. It's so beautiful in the daytime. But not as beautiful as the argument Cam and Nixie are having right now. Carly's holding what I think is Cam's phone. Right now, I'm sitting with just Blair.

"When I give the signal, blow up the phone." I whispered to Blair. Just as Nixie dumps a smoothie on Cam, which was kind of hilarious, Blair makes a gesture with her hand, and the phone goes ka-boom. Whew!

Line break…

"Problema resuelto." I said to Zac. He looks at me confused.

"What?" He asked.

"Problem solved in Spanish."

"You speak Spanish?" Cam looked at me confused.

"Dude, I don't speak Spanish. I am Spanish." Well technically I'm Mexican-Australian. My dad is Mexican.

"Letting yourself be filmed was really dumb." Lyla said to Zac. "Next time why don't you be a bit more careful?"

"You should talk."

Me and Blair sit down. "Hey Blair, look at this." Cam and Nixie are talking. Him. Her. Alone.

"Cam and Nixie, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Blair whispers.

Nixie punches Cam on the arm. "That's for filming Zac." She says. But then, she does something I had never expected her to do: She kisses him on the check!

"That's for… everything else."

"Did you see that Blair?"

"Yeah."

I walk up to Cam, who's staring into space, blushing madly.

"Oooh! You like her!" I said to him.

"I do not."

"Yes you do!" I said in a singsong voice. Cam walks away blushing a crimson red.

2 hours later at the pool, at Blar's place…

Me and the gals are in the pool with our bikinis, well except for Blair because she's now a mermaid, with a gold bikini top, and a matching tail.

"Case is solved, we came to a close call and Blair's not in a cage right now. This was a interesting weekend. And to top it off, I have one more piece of juicy gossip." I said.

"What?" Kimi and Helen said in unison.

"Oh let's just say that after Blair, made the phone go ka-boom, Nixie kissed Cam."

"On the lips or cheek?" Helen asked.

"The cheek. I sense a romance blossoming in the future." I answered.

"Slow this down. Anyway. How about Blair demonstrates her ability to make things blow up in spontaneous combustion?" Kimi said.

"Yeah! Finally some action!" Helen said. Helen, always wanting action.

"What should I blow up?" Blair asked.

"Blow up…. Tech Center" I said.

"Hey!" Kimi cried.

"Unless you don't think you can." Helen pushed.

"Oh, I've got nothing to prove." Blair said cooly.

"You guys leave my beautiful Tech Center out of this!" Kimi whined. "I spent days working on it!"

"Well I was just saying, that it's a good start!" Rose said.

"Rosalina!" Helen exclaimed. We all burst out laughing. Oh it's good to have friends. Especially if one has a tail.


	18. Moon Ring 2

Ah Sunday morning. Oh wait it's Sunday? I ran out of my room and headed to the backyard. Rob and Teresa are there setting up lunch. Oh man. The lunch with Principal Santos, a.k.a my mom.

"Hey guys."

"Blair, you're not dressed." Teresa said.

"Yet. I'm not dressed yet."

"Well please get dressed in something appropriate before 2." Rob said sternly.

"You don't think it'll rain do you?" I asked.

"Oh a little rain will never hurt anybody." Rob said.

"I beg to differ." I whisper.

"Wonder what's keeping Zac."

"I'll go check on him." I run to Zac's garage. I heard some banging. I wondered if he was building something, or taking it apart.

"Hey Zac."

"Hey sis."

"What's with the hammer?"

"Check this out. I found it on the reef. There's something that's like a ring."

The silver band looked like my ring's. He continued to pound away. Suddenly, Rob came in.

"Zac, you're not dressed. Principal Santos is coming for lunch." I grimaced at the word "principal." You see, I'm sure it's not problem having a regular mom like Teresa. But having a mom like Rita? I'm not saying she's all bad, but it feels kind of scary to have a very powerful principal as your mom who's also a mermaid.

"Dad." Zac speaks. "I get that you're on the school council and you have to have her over. Doesn't mean I have to be there."

"Yeah, do we have to be there?" I complained.

"Kids, she is our guest and you two will be courteous. Besides, if you get to know her, you two might see her as more as a school principal. Who knows? She might have another side." With that note he leaves.

"Another side hmm? Make that two sides: The fishy side and the maternal side."

"Blair, why are you so mad about her coming here?"

"That's the thing Zac. She's my mother, my real mother. How am I supposed to keep my cool if the person I haven't had friendly contact with for 14 years is there? What am I going to do? What am I going to say?"

"Blair. Blair, relax. So she's your real mom. Just try and act normal, and maybe even have a conversation with her? Start with an ice breaker like, 'How was your day?'"

"I'll keep that in mind. Do you need some help with the getting the ring out of the stone?"

"No I'm almost done." As soon as he is done, he gestures me over and looks at my moon ring.

"Zac, I know what that is. That's a moon ring!"

"A what?"

"It's a ring worn by a mermaid. It's supposed to have magic powers or something."

"Where'd you get yours?"

"After my aunt healed me with her moon ring, she gave it to me to protect me. I've had it ever since. What do you plan on doing with this one?"

"Since my last gift kind of broke, I'd thought I'd make it up to Evie. Does it have any harm on humans though?"

"No I don't think so. Now, put on some clothes, and go get her. And good luck."

Line break…

I've just finished straightening my hair. I now wear a long casual turquoise dress with my moon ring to go with it. I leave my house to place a delivery order for some seafood. For the lunch no me! I then biked to the ocean café, placed my delivery order and met Zac and Cam outside.

"Hey guys."

"Wow, Blair, you look amazing!" Cam said. Zac just smiled.

"Thanks." Just then Lyla, and her minions showed up.

"Zac, we need to talk." Lyla spoke.

"Talk about what?"

"Nothing, just a quick word. It's private." She looks at Cam with a death glare.

"I'm not going anywhere. I'm watching my bestie's back." He says.

"And I'm not going anywhere either. I'm gonna see this thing through."

"That ring you gave Evie." Lyla said to Zac. "It's dangerous."

"Dangerous how?"

"It's so powerful, I can't even describe."

"If it's that dangerous, how come you're wearing one?" Zac asked Sirena.

"I know what I'm doing. Sort of." Wow Sirena. Way to keep your cool.

"You have to get it off her." Nixie said.

"I can't just ask Evie to give the ring back. She's gonna wanna know why."

"Then think of something. We need to put it somewhere safe."

"And by 'we' you mean you mermaids?" I asked.

"It's a mermaid ring, illegal puer. Something that should not be in your possession."

I didn't know what "illegal puer" meant, but I knew it's a really bad insult.

"And so Zac is supposed to just hand it over, and it'll make you, how much stronger than him, next full moon?" Cam said.

"That's got nothing to do with it." Lyla interjects.

"So you say." I speak. "But you three apparently don't have a very good track record of telling people the truth do you? Me in particular."

"You're not still mad about that, are you?"

"Yes. But this conversation is about something else, so let's get back on it."

"Let me think about it."

"There is nothing to think about. If Evie goes into the moonlight with that ring on she'll be in real trouble."

Oh.

"So I'm going to decide how I'll handle it."

"Well decide fast."

"You guys aren't gonna let them have it are you?" Cam asked.

"Of course I'm not. But I do need to get it back off Evie." Zac replied

"I don't see how that's going to happen."

"Anyone got any genius ideas?" I asked. Zac shows a smirk. "You have one don't you?"

"Yeah I do."

Line Break…

Lunch is almost here. My mom is here. Though I'm not sure I should call her that. Ugh I'm so confused. I moved a little closer to her side.

"Hi." She said to me. Wait, she's talking to me?

"Hi, hi me? Oh uh, hi?"

There is an awkward silence.

"You look beautiful." She said.

"Thank you. You look nicer."

"Thank you. So, this is what a lunch with 2 families looks like."

"It's dryer than I thought."

"What is that amazing smell?" We both sniffed in the air simultaneously.

"Chocolate." We said in unison. And we both giggled. "So, how was your day?"

"Good." I walk over to Zac.

"You have a plan?" I asked.

"Yep. When my mom comes out, I get her to have a look at the ring. Evie takes it off to show her"

"I distract everybody." Cam said

"And then poof, somehow the ring disappears!"

"Into Blair's possession, sweet."

"Wait, why mine?"

"Because you're part mermaid and you're a girl and girls like jewelry." Cam said.

"What does me being a girl have to do with jewelry?" I raise an eyebrow.

"I'm just saying, girls like jewelry the same way as guys like sports." I gasp. I am personally insulted. Not all girls like jewelry! It is a stereotype and it's offensive. I could have said that but instead, I give Cam my deluxe I-will-pound-you stare.

"And we've got some other guests here too." Teresa said.

"Wonder who they are." Zac muttered. It's the girls.

"Zac you just had to say something!" I hissed.

"This complicates things a bit." Cam whispered.

"Gee, you think?"

Line break…

"Seriously, crashing the lunch?" I whisper to Lyla.

"We have to get the ring off Evie."  
"Yes, and I've got to figure out how that's going to work."

"It's a mermaid ring, leave it to the older more experienced ones."  
"Look Lyla, I've had these transformations all my life, and I've had plenty of experience with my ring. So shut up."

Another Line break…

Rob and Teresa were talking about the new art room funds they were donating to the school. Wait, art. I give a thumbs up to Zac. He smiles back. He then asks Teresa to have a look at the ring he got Evie. It's time. She has a look at it, and she said that she doesn't recognize the stone. That's because according to Stephanie's research, the stone is some kind of moonlight stone that works magic.

"Where'd you get it Zac?" She asked.

"Found it on the beach." Seriously? On the beach? Even Cam can improvise better than that. I am so giving him lying lessons.

"You found it?" Evie asked.

"It was so amazing, when I cleaned it up, I thought of you." I sighed. Now that's improvisation.

"It is very similar to yours Sirena."

"My sister gave it to me."

"Say, where did Blair get her ring?" Evie looked at me.

"It was already on her finger, when we got her at the orphanage. Someone must have given it to her." Yeah and that someone happens to be my aunt, who lives in the sea. Suddenly the oven dings. The bread rolls are ready. Robs picks up the ring and looks at it.

"Zac." I whisper to him. "Got any ideas? Cause I'm out."

"Working on it."

"Boy this punch looks good." Cam said. He knocks over it. Ok. That's improvisation. I reach for the ring. But Lyla uses her powers to send it flying away. Aww. I was going to do that!

I sit back down. Oh great. The seafoods out. "May I go inside? I need to barf." I said. I run inside to my room.

"Blair, you ok?" Cam asked.

"Yeah. I'm good."

"Why don't you like seafood. I get that you're part mermaid, but I just find it a little ironic."

"That's the point Cam, part of me is from the ocean. Those prawns or crabs were probably cousins of mine, twice removed!"

"You went to this lunch, so there's lunch. Chow down."

"I can't. There's seafood."

"Such as dead fish?"

"Cam, if you're going to eat my distant cousins, at least have the decency to get rid of the evidence!"

"Fine, just don't eat. Whatever makes you happy."

Line break…

I look outside. It's been about 10 minutes since I almost barfed at the sight of a gazillion plates of dead fish. Ugh. But suddenly, I see Zac being chased by Sirena and Lyla. Hmm what's going on there? So I ran to Zac's garage. To my surprise, I find them there.

"Zac. I saw you being chased. What is going on-

I didn't have time to finish my sentence because the door slammed shut. Ok, now I'm a little mad. I opened the door and I rushed inside, pushing Sirena's hand down before she could try something. But I was too late to stop Lyla from using her powers to "push" the bookcase down. Crash!

"That sounded expensive!" I exclaimed. "Seriously?! You're making a scene!"

"I hope you're satisfied!" Zac exclaimed as well.

"Not until we get the ring back."

"You mean this?" Zac tauntingly waves the ring in the air. The girls raise their hands. Oh no.

"No!" I shout. "Guys, you're gonna-

Just then, Rita enters as a flash of light escapes the ring and hits her in the chest. She falls down paralyzed. Or she looked paralyzed.

"Activate it."

"I'll take that ."  
"She's breathing."

"We told you guys it was dangerous!"

"Only around you!"

"What do we do now?"

"I don't know?! Anybody got any bright ideas?"

"Zac?" Great, it's Evie. Just great. "What's happening in there?"

"Nothing. Some books fell over."

"So why is the door locked?"

"Is it?"

"Yes! Unlock the door. Now please.

"This morning, when Rita was talking about the moon rings… Water! She said something about water!" Sirena ponders into space for a minute. "Water is the essence of our spirit."

"That's right! It has the power to heal." Zac opened a water bottle and poured water on Rita.

"It can't make things worse." Just as she said that, Rita transforms into her mermaid self. She had a long bronze tail, and she had shell things in her hair.

"You just had to say something, didn't you?"

"No we need seawater! That is the essence of our spirit. She was born in the sea. So we need to get her in the ocean."

"And how are we going to do that?" I asked. "If we use our powers, steam will rise from the door crack and Evie will notice." So we carried my mermaid mother out, carefully, and we dumped her in the ocean. Man her tail is heavy! And slimy too. I think she got better because she flapped her tail and disappeared into the ocean. It's amazing how gracefully mermaids move their tails. Ok this has to have been the craziest lunch in the history of crazy lunches. I liked it.


	19. The Trident Job

I was at Mako Island, with Zac. Cam's arriving in a few minutes with the gear. You see, I'm helping Zac get the trident. Not really though. While he expects me to stall the girls, I'm going to help them get to Zac in time to try to stop him, or will I? Oh, I haven't made my choice, yet. I then saw Cam a few meters away. I stretched my hand out, concentrated on the boat, and made the water pull him towards the beach.

"Show off." He said. I stick my tongue out.

"Zac!" I yelled out. "Cam's here!"

"You got the gear?" Zac asked.

"Why'd you think I'd meet you guys here?" Cam asked tossing a bag. "And it's not for a picnic."

"You sure this is going to work guys?" I asked.

"Trust me sis, it's a full moon tonight." We trekked to the place where "some unlucky mermaid" would trip the wire and get stuck in a tail. I tie some wires to a pole.

"You know what the full moon does to you, you lose the plot." Cam said. "How's this going to work if you're out of it?"

"I almost handled it last time." Zac said.

"Oh, is that so?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm getting better with it every full moon." Zac said confidently.

"Zac, it took me months to get over it." I said. "I'm not so sure 3 months experience of being a merman is going to help you."

"Don't worry sis, it won't be a problem tonight." said Zac.

"That's good to hear man, because you blow it, you know who's going to get the trident." Cam reminded him.

"Cam, you seriously think we'll let 3 mermaids beat us to it?" I asked. "The more they try to stop us, the more we're going to make sure they can't."

"Makes you wonder what's so special about it." I said. "They're so desperate to keep you away from it they'd do anything."

"And that's why I'm going to find out what it does."

We then set up the booby trap. Tonight's plan? It's foolproof.

At the café…

"3 honey and ginseng shakes, with triple protein booster." Carly said as she handed us our drinks. "You guys getting ready for a marathon or something?

"You might say that." I replied. "I reckon it's going to be a big night."

"You bet." Carly said. "The Halloween party is going to be wild. Wait until you see my costume."

"You have remembered to get one haven't you?" Evie said. "Fancy dress remember?"

"Don't worry." Evie walked away.

"Except how are you going to be in 2 places at once?" Cam asked. "Or is that some sort of mer-dude trick?"

"I promised Evie I'd go to the party." Zac reminded us. "I can't let her down."

"So why did we waste all that time on Mako if you can't even get there tonight?" Cam asked.

"I figured out a way to do both." said Zac. "At least I hope I have."

"I still don't understand something." I said. "If you slip away, how is she not going to notice?"

"If I'm fast enough it's possible. Just."

"Say Blair. How come you're helping us on this heist instead of hanging out with your gang at the party?" 

"Well Cam, my friends are off doing something."

"Where's Rosalina?" Zac asked.

"Babysitting." I said.

"Kimi?" Cam asked.

"Her family has this annual Halloween party for her family only." I explained.

"Helen?" Zac asked.

"Had to go to her cousin's Bar Mitzvah." I said.

"So it looks like you're stuck with us." Cam said.

"Yep besides, tonight's plans should be entertaining." I said.

"Well, look who it is." Lyla walked to our table.

"You coming tonight?" Zac asked. "I never thought Halloween would be your thing."

"Oh I didn't think it'd be yours either." She snapped back. "Don't you have another party to go to? On Mako?"

"I didn't think there was one out there?" Zac said. "Did you two know?"

"No. I think you've got that wrong." Cam replied cooly.

"Come on Zac." Lyla pressed on. "It's the full moon. We know exactly what you're going to do."

"Yeah." I piped up. "He's going to be here partying with all the other witches and ghosts."

"Whatever you're planning, it's not going to work." Lyla said determined.

"We're just going to have the best night's of our lives." Zac said to her face. That's all." As Zac and Cam walk up to leave, I snapped my fingers and stick my tongue out at Lyla.

"Ok. I still don't get this. Even if you slip off without Evie noticing, your fishy friends will." Cam said.

"Yeah Zac, they're going to have eyes on you the whole time." I reminded them.

"Good. I want them to."

Later, that night, near moonrise…

It's Halloween night. Which means, it was time to give the big boys a little scare. Insert evil grin here. I looked into the mirror one last time. I was wearing a ninja suit that is entirely black. I had silver wristbands and ankle bands. I even wore a ninja mask and black combat boots. I wore black sneakers. For makeup, I wore red lipstick and mascara. Everything is set. All I need to do is scare the life out of Cam and Zac. I headed toward the door. Wait, why take the short way, when I could just levitate myself out of the window? I did so and I knocked on Zac's door. Thinking quick, I turned invisible and stepped inside. Just as he closed the door, I turned visible.

"BOO!" I screamed. Cam jumped and fell on the floor. Zac on the other hand, got so scared that he almost turned invisible.

"Blair?" He asked.

"In the anemic flesh. How's tricks?" 

"How's tricks? You almost gave us a heart attack with yours!" Cam exclaimed.

"Sorry, it's Halloween. I just couldn't resist."

"I will get you for this." Zac said narrowing his eyes.

"Anyway, what's the status report on the full moon?" I asked.

"The moon still isn't up yet." Cam replied. "We've got about 30 seconds till it rises. You sure you don't want to shut these blinds?"

"I'm cool. I can handle it this time, I told you two." Zac said.

"Ok. But if you do wacko again, I'm not sure if the rest of us can do it." Cam said.

"Hey!" I exclaimed.

"I'm just saying that since Zac is a merboy he should be the one to carry the trident. And since you're half mermaid, we don't know if the trident's too powerful for you to even touch." He didn't know half of it.

"Look, I'll be fine, don't you guys worry." Zac said.

"I still don't know if you can pull this off." I said nervously. Zac wraps his arm around my shoulder.

"I have to." Zac getting the trident was inevitable. In fact, the only reason that I was helping steal the trident was to get it out of his system.

"How much time now?" He asked.

"10 seconds to go. Any second now." I felt the moon's rising energy beginning to flow through my veins. I felt like I could do anything. Moonlight enters through the open blinds. Zac looks at it all trance-like. He leaves and heads toward the jetty.

"Zac, you ok?" Cam asked. I then showed an evil smirk on my face.

"Cam, cover your ears, now." I said firmly.

"Why do I have to-

"Just do it!" He does so and I put power in my voice.

Zac, blink. He does so. If he listened to me and did what I said, he must have not been in another moon trance. But just to be sure…

Now slap yourself until I say stop. He does so.

"Would. You. Stop. Doing. That?!" He said between slaps. Cam and I just laughed so hard. If only I had my camera.

Ok. Stop He looks at me with envy. "What was that for?"

"Sorry I just had to make sure."

"I told you already. I'm cool. I learned to deal with the full moon by now haven't I? Now come on. We've got a party to get to. Don't wanna be late."

At the café…

"Trick or Treat!" We all shout at the door of the café. It felt good to be in a party. Music and no worries. But I couldn't let go of my worries just yet. Nixie gave me a death glare. I did the only mature thing a 14 year old could to in response: I stuck my tongue at her. The music started playing and Sirena's started singing. I must admit. I can't really dance, even though Zac says I'm pretty good. After a few moments, I do a few moves, such as the wave, coffee grinder, and moonwalking. I suddenly got a crowd circling me. And cheering. But quickly the song ended, and we gave our cheers to Sirena. Matt comes to the mike and takes it in his hand.

"And everybody let's give it up for Blair and her awesome moves!" I got so many people clapping for me. Ok I will admit it. I can dance a little.

"The plan is in motion." Zac whispers in my ear. "They don't suspect a thing."

"Good." I walked to the door and waited for Cam. When he came, I jumped in to the water and swam to Mako as fast as I could. Cam arrived there in time. He was wearing a costume similar to Zac's.

"Come on!" As soon as we started running, I turned around and I saw the trio heading toward us. We still ran.

"Sirena stop!" I heard someone scream. I couldn't turn around to see what happened because I fell to the ground. Cam did too. When they turned him over, they were surprised to see it wasn't him! Man their faces were hysterical beyond belief.

"You're too late" I whispered. "You know what to do Cam." I then ran to the sea and swam back to the ocean café. I met Zac there talking to his girlfriend.

"Hey guys." I said.

"Hey Blair. Nice moves by the way." Evie said.

"Thanks." 

"I know what you two did." Lyla suddenly spoke.

"What are you talking about?" Evie asked.

"Yes, what are you talking about?" I tried to sound clueless as possible.

"Both of you took a little nighttime dip in the ocean." Lyla persisted.

"We haven't been swimming. We haven't been anywhere." I said.

"Yeah except to help pick up the desserts. Which was meant to be your job." Nixie pulled me aside.

"Where's Cam?" she asked.

"Went home sick. He ate too much. Maybe you shouldn't have kept giving him all that greasy food." I said.

"I know you're lying. This doesn't end here." Nixie said.

"Of course it does." I said. "After tonight, no one's ever going to hire you as waitresses ever again."

Now this was a Halloween to remember. Now that he's got the trident I just need to figure out a way to get it off of him.


	20. Blair or Thalassa?

I was at Zac's garage. We were trying to find out how the trident worked. Or where the "on button" was.

"So what does it do?" Cam asked.

"Well most websites say the same thing." Zac replied. "It's a mythological weapon of great power and magic. Used to create earthquakes, tidal waves, and storms."

"And how did they do that?" I asked.

"Doesn't say." Cam picked up the trident and started waving it around like they did in action movies.

"Sorry Cam, but I don't think that's actually going to fire it up." I said.

"Well this one doesn't seem to work. Great, we pull off the perfect heist and for what?" Cam asked. "A useless antique. Maybe we could sell it." He reached for it but Zac pulled it back.

"This was used by gods who live underwater, who have power over the ocean and weather." Zac explained.

"So?" I asked.

"So maybe it has to be wet." Cam holds it while Zac opens a water bottle.

"Really, Zac? The old fashioned way?" I asked. I stuck my hand out, concentrated hard, and slowly water came into my hand out of the air. Both of the boys' jaws fell.

"B-b-blair?" Zac asked. "Did you just… pull water out of thin air?"

"Yes. In some days you've just got to open your brain to the infinite possibilities."

"Blair that's… AWESOME!" Cam exclaimed. "Did you know about this, Zac?"

"Even water has it's secrets." I said.

I encased the water on the trident. But nothing worked. "Maybe there's… a magic word."

"You read too many fairytales." Zac scoffed.

"Oh and mermaids aren't real. Maybe you have to speak mermaid." Cam theorized.

"Is that even a language?" Zac asked.

"No but the closest ones I can think of are Latin or Greek." I said.

"Do you happen to know any of them?" Cam asked. Just as I was about to retort, I heard an unexpected visitor.

"Zac?" It was Lyla.

"Guess what they're after." Cam said.

"If it's that important, there's no way I'm giving it back." I was afraid he would say that. I had already tried a gazillion times to convince him to not get the trident and most of those tries ended up in arguments. Zac is sometimes as stubborn as a rock. Must be a trait mermen get. I had no idea how right I was. We stepped outside to find the trio outside right in front of us.

"Well? Where is it?" Nixie asked.

"Where's what?" Zac asked.

"You know exactly what we mean." Nixie challenged.

"Sorry I don't know what you're talking about." Zac said.

"It's dangerous. You're messing with power you can't understand, let alone control." Lyla warned.

"Have you been eating swordfish?" Cam taunted. "I think the mercury's starting to mess with your brain."

"You stay out of this land boy." Nixie warned. "We weren't hatched yesterday."

"Zac please." Sirena pleaded. "I know you don't believe this but we're on your side. You have to trust us."

"Yeah right." Zac scoffed. "Like that's going to happen."

"I bet its inside. We'll take it if we need to." We raise our arms to use our powers but our preparation was cut short when Rob came.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready for school?" He asked.

"Don't worry. We were just leaving, weren't we boys?" I asked.

"Yeah." Cam agreed

"We'll be seeing you soon." Nixie said.

"Oh they mean it, they'll be back." Cam warned once they were gone. "You got to find a good place to stash it. Fast." After Rob left the poolside area, Zac dropped the trident there.

Later, at Suncoast High…

I was on my way to class, when I saw Evie walk toward me.

"Hey Blair. I would like to include you in the school magazine interview with Principal Santos." I raised an eyebrow.

"Why? I'm sorry I'm confused."

"Well, you share quite a resemblance to her." Evie said.

"And I'm involved in the interview because?" I asked.

"Because I know that she shares some kind of special bond with you." Evie explained. "And having you around just might make this article much more interesting. After all it's just an interview."

I took some time to process this. "Well, why not?"

"Good, come to Principal Santos' house this afternoon after school." She turned around and left. Oh no what was I thinking?! I can't let people know-let alone Evie that I'm the principal's long lost daughter who was said to be dead. Wait a second. That's when it hit me. She invited me because she's using the interview to get to me and Santos. Well I can't back out of it because once Evie insists, she insists.

Later, at Rita's home…

I biked to Santos' house. It's a really nice place if you check it out. Once I stepped in, I felt like I was home. I didn't even know the half of it.

"Blair? What are you doing here?" Zac asked.

"I was just going to ask you the same question." I replied. "Besides, your girlfriend insisted I come." We walked to what appeared to be a living room. It had a flat screen TV, a nice kitchen and a great view. Being a principal does have its perks. And one of them is: a really fancy house. Evie arrived with David. We all sat. I sat with Ms. Santos, or Mom.

"Let's start with the basics." said Evie. "Where were you born?"

"On the Barrier Reef. My parents were sailing around the world." She replied. Sailing around the world. Hmm, I thought. Not a bad cover story. After all, any cover story is a good cover story as long as it fits the subject you're covering up. Wow, that's a lot of coverage in one sentence.

"Seriously? I've never seen you swim." Evie said.

"A waterlogged childhood made me keen on dry land." Rita explained. "Most of my education was conducted overseas. The Caribbean, Fiji, Hawaii."

"That's a lot of swimming." I whispered to Zac. But suddenly, the mermaid trio came up.

"What are you doing here?" Nixie asked.

"We're interviewing your aunt for the school magazine." Evie explained.

"Why?" Sirena asked.

"To clear up the mystery of her life. It was Zac's idea actually." WHAT?! If one piece of our secret gets out to any of them, he's answering to moi!

"It's perfectly ok girls." Rita said assuredly.

"The kids at school are dying to know how you came to live with Principal Santos." And by "the kids" I'm sure she meant herself.

"I think we'll leave you guys to it." said Sirena.

"Seriously, we'd love to involve you in the article. You're such a big part of your aunt's life." Evie persisted.

"You know we'd really just get in the way." Sirena argued.

"I'm used to that." Evie said.

"I'm sure it won't take long." said Rita.

"Zac." I said. "A word please?" He walks with me until I came across a hallway.

"Have you gone insane? What are you doing?" I asked.

"Since when is it illegal to interview someone?" he asked absent-minded.

"You're playing with fire." I warned him. "You know they don't live here, you know Rita's not their aunt, and you know she's my mom!"

"So?" Zac asked.

"So be careful or Evie's going to blow our secret. And when I say our secret, I'm including you." I yanked him by the ear and pull it close enough to make my words crystal clear.

"Keep your girlfriend under control, or we all lose." We started to walk back.

Line break…

"… then I came back to Australia and ended up as the principal of Suncoast High.

"And then your nieces arrived. Let's talk about them. So where are your parents?" No response. Seriously? They've been here for like almost 4 months already. You think they could have made at least one cover story by now.

"Sailing." Rita said. Sailing really? You've already used that one! Rule number 3 of making a cover: Never copy someone's cover story.

"All of them?" Evie asked.

"It runs in the family. It's a real passion."

"Okay. Why don't they go to Suncoast High?"

"Well they're just visiting so I'm home-schooling them."

"They've been here for a long time." Wait a second, not only was she using the interview to get to me, she was using it to get to them! I was a fool.

"I thought this interview was about Principal Santos." Zac interjected.

"It is. Evie said. All aspects of her life. How old are you?"

"We're 16." Sirena replied. Wow, what a coincidence. That's how old Zac is!

"All of you?" David asked. "I thought you were sisters."

"You're cousins." Zac said. "Right?"

"Right we were all just born around the same time." Lyla said. In a way they are

"You're lucky your aunt has such a big house." said Evie. "Do you share a bedroom?"

"No/Yes." Sirena and Nixie said at an awkward unison.

"Excuse me?" Evie asked.

"I mean yes." They both said in unison again.

"We used to share but now we don't." Lyla covered quickly.

"I think that we've got enough for the article, right Evie?" Zac asked.

"I haven't finished my questions yet." Evie persisted.

"No one at school cares where they sleep." I said.

"I think they do." Evie said.

"So David, let's go get some photos now." I suggested

"Excellent idea Blair. Shall we go up to the roof? Evie come on." We walked to the roof. The view there is awesome. I still feel like I could have lots of talks here.

"Just look natural." said David. He then took some photos of Rita and the girls. Then Evie told him to take some photos of me and Rita! He took about 15. Then he took some of me. Finally we were done.

"Hey David, could you get a few photos of the house?" Evie asked. "Just to get a feel for who you are."

"I'm sure you've got more than enough to write your article." Rita said.

Later at Zac's pool…

I levitated the trident out of the pool and set it on the ground before I could get wet. Cam then dried it with a towel. When we went inside of Zac's room, he started telling us about what he discovered while I was being photographed.

"You guys should see this place under Rita's. It's like a pirate cave. Or an antique shop. I've got to get back in there and check it out more. And Blair, I saw a photo of you, when you were a baby, Rita, and your dad. I got to tell you, you look just like Rita." I smiled. A warm feeling brushed my heart.

"I have to check that photo." I said.

"Yeah, and borrow some of those gold coins?" Cam asked.

"One, she's a very powerful mermaid, two, she's our very powerful principal, and three, she happens to be my very powerful mom. In other words: bad idea."

"I said borrow, not steal." Cam clarified

"Actually borrow is a nice term for steal." I reminded them.

"I'm more interested in finding out what else she's got down there." Zac said cunningly.

"Like a way to turn that on?" Cam asked.

"All her secrets are in there. I just need more time to look." said Zac.

"And how are you going to do that? It's not like you can just barge in from the front door." I said.

"I don't need to." Zac said getting up. "There's another way from the sea. I saw it. I could smell the salt water."

"Well that's one disadvantage of being a mermaid: They have back doors they can't lock." Cam said.

"Excuse me, I need to do something." I said. I rushed to my room, got my phone and dialed Rita's house.

"Hello?" I heard Lyla's voice.

"Lyla, get your friends and get to the grotto. Zac is on his way." I turned off the phone. I then went to the computer and got my friends on my line.

"Hey Blair." Rosalina said. "Guys, I believe that Zac has found a way to get to Rita's grotto undetected. I want you fill your water guns and bring them. Kimi, I need you to get the blueprints for Rita's house. Helen, when you get to the bookcase down the passage to the right, there is a book marked, "Mermaid Myths". And Rosalina, make sure no one is seen until I say otherwise. And hurry. The choice has been made. Now go!" I turned off the computer and got one last look at my room, where I slept in for 13 years. Because I wouldn't be coming back for a long time...

Later, that night…

We were in the ocean trying to find the entrance to Rita's grotto. With all the stress in my mind, I've sort of forgotten where it was. Zac then taps me and I follow him coming to this cave. We then got dry, and headed toward the grotto. It was so beautiful. I felt like anything could happen here. I stopped by a photo of my dad and mom, with my mom as a mermaid.

"Thought so." I heard Lyla. Sirena and Nixie joined her sides.

"Just give us the trident, and get out. It doesn't belong to you." Nixie warned.

"Since I'm the one holding it, I'm kind of guessing it does." Zac said confidently.

"You don't know what it can do. You don't understand it's power." Sirena pleaded.

"Blair, what do you think we should do?" It's time.

"My name is Blair Christine Blakely. But that's about to change!" I then levitated the trident out of his hands and walked on a step. "Guys, come out now!" Quickly, each of the girls came out of a curtain. Kimi took the east point. Rosalina, west. Helen went beside me. I handed the trident to her.

"Blair, what are you doing?" Zac asked.

"Zac, my known name is Blair. My true name is Thalassa Santos. I admit I am Rita's daughter. I couldn't stop you from getting the trident but now you have it. And it doesn't have any power. Zac, what you held what a weapon of destruction and murder. In a war between mermaids and mermen, this trident was used to destroy villages and take lives. Families were torn apart as well. Using the trident won't just affect the people you attack. It'll hurt everyone. You have no idea what chaos will be unleashed."

"In other words Zac, the girl you knew was merely a fantasy in reality." Helen said. "She's been conspiring behind your back."

"That's a lie!" Zac shouted.

"It's the truth. When she found out who she was, she set out to destroy your little team." Kimi said. "From the inside out."

"No! Blair would never!"

"Tonight her plan was to strike." Rosalina said. "But she took pity. Even if she betrayed you, she still loves you. Despite this she was kind enough to warn even the 3 girls behind you in time to stop you."

"Liar!"

"Zac. It's the truth." Zac's face turned from angry to horror-stricken.

"Sister? Why?"

"Because you could never give her what she needs." Sirena said.

"I trusted you! I practically raised you!" He raised his hand. We all do so except for my friends who fire up their water guns. Suddenly, the trident's stone starts to glow bright blue. Moonlight is then being drawn in a silvery-blue line of energy from my ring into the trident.

"Thalassa?"

"I'm not doing anything! I can't turn it off!" After what seemed like forever the charging was complete. This was bad. Really, really bad.

"What the heck happened?" Rosalina exclaimed.

"I think it just got charged."

"And we'll be its practice dummies unless someone thinks of something!" Helen shouted. But we're too late as Zac leaves. I fall on to my knees.

"What have I done?!" I cry.

"There's a powering mechanism?!" Helen exclaimed. "Kimi why didn't you tell us?"

"Well, because I wanted us to fail. OBVIOUSLY I DIDN'T KNOW!"

"Now Zac's got the trident." I said. "Because I gave it to him. I destroyed Mako Island. Just like the prophecy said."

"Forget the prophecy." I heard Nixie. "You're worried about your destiny? Write a new one. You're angry at Zac for using the trident, then show him why he shouldn't. You're upset about your dad, make sure he didn't die for nothing."

"Thanks guys."

"So you're finally joining us." Lyla said. "Took you long enough."

"Can you guys get Rita down here? I wanna say hi to her, but first tell her what happened." Then out of nowhere, Nixie gave me a hug.

"I'm so sorry I called you illegal puer. I was scared of the choice you would make. Now that you've made it, I'm so proud of you. We'll get Rita down. And then you'll be reunited with her."

They did so. They explained everything to Rita and what happened. They then stepped out of my way and then I saw the face of my mother. She looked shocked. I ran up to her and hugged her, tightly.

"Mother." The world stopped as she hugged back. We were finally reunited after 14 long years.

"Blair, I.." I put up my hand to silence her.

"Blair is gone mother. Thalassa has now returned in your arms." We hugged once more. "I need to try one last time. Oh and call me Thalie." I ran to the pool, dived and sped to Zac's house. I got dry and ran to Zac's house. I opened the door. Zac looks at me with hatred.

"What do you want?" He asked.

"Zac please. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry! I never meant for any of this to happen." I said pleading.

"So why did you let it?" He snarled.

"I don't know ok? I don't know! I was just under a lot of stress. I had to chose but…"

"So it was all a trick? You were just pretending?"

"Zac, you said you'd be my big brother no matter what remember?"

"Cam was right. You were never my sister from the start. Now get out of my room." Holding in tears I ran to the jetty, jumped in and swam to the grotto. I entered it, crying.

"Thalie?" I hear Lyla. "What happened." I ran into her arms still crying.

"I betrayed my brother. He hates me. I'm scared. What have I done?"

"It's ok, you did what you had to do. I hope this means you'll stay. After all, you are family."

"With Zac kicking me out of his house, what choice do I have? It's actually not bad. Where's my mom?"

"I'll show you to her, and your new friends went home. Rita thought it was best that way." She leads me out of the grotto, through some passageways upstairs to this blue room with a large bed in it. It looked like it was newly refurbished. Waiting for me was my mother.

"I'll leave you guys alone." With that Lyla left.

"I already called your parents. I plan to take you back under my care, but tonight you'll sleep in your room. When I found out you were alive, I took the liberty of making a room for you. I hope you like it."

"I love it!" I hug her. I noticed my pj's on my bed. They were my size though.

"Do you mind if I change?" I asked.

"There's a bathroom over there." I had a bathroom next to my room? Awesome! After I changed into my blue pjs, which were a blue tank top and blue pj shorts.

"Thalassa, I understand this must have been hard for you. I hate that you had to go through that."

"At least we're now reunited." She put her hand to my face and I feel warmness. So this is what a mother's touch felt like.

"I can teach you all that I've learned. There's room for another in my mermaid schooling class. Remember, even water has its secrets. And I'll show them all to you. We'll unlock every mystery in our path and forge a family together, as mother and daughter." I then lie in my bed, with my mom folding the covers over me.

"These gifts and the past that we share Thalassa, it bonds us. This is who you are, my daughter. Who we are. Now get some rest. It looks like you will need it." She kissed me on the check and sang me to sleep.


	21. Nowhere to Hide

I woke up in my new room. There was now a nice dresser, and a sofa. Hmm. Mom must have done it overnight. I checked my closet. Nothing there. Even my dresser drawers had no clothes, except for the clothes I wore yesterday: a blue-green tanktop, jean shorts, and blue converse sneakers. They must have been washed. I took a simple bath, got myself dressed and headed downstairs. I was starting to get lost, literally, but I quickly smelled something like chocolate chip pancakes. Following the smell, I walked into the kitchen where I saw Mom making something that smelled exactly like that.

"Morning." I said.

"Sleep well?" she asked.

"Yeah. Are you making chocolate chip pancakes?" I asked

"As a matter of fact I am. Help yourself." I did so. Mom's actually a pretty good cook.

"So, um is it Saturday already? It doesn't feel like a school day." I said. She gave me a deadpanned look.

"Nice try. Your schoolbag is over there by the TV. Just because you're my daughter, doesn't mean you get to skip school."

"I was just kidding Mom!" I said.

"Although I do get to drive you to school." Mom said to me.

"Thanks." I said.

"How are you feeling after last night?"

"A bit better." I croaked out.

"You know you can always talk to me if you're feeling sad or anything." She said to me.

"I know Mom." I said dropping my fork. "I guess I'm gonna have to get used to calling you that."

"But I'm not getting used to calling you, 'Thalie.' My mom said sternly. "Your father gave you your name."We have a moment of silence. I wish my dad were here. "Anyways, it's Tuesday. And the girls should have shown up by now."

"Oh thanks Mom!" I ran to the bookcase, got inside the grotto and stopped in by the pool. Sirena was getting dry. "Hey guys."

"Hey Thalie." Nixie said.

"I never got a chance to tell you guys that I'm sorry, for everything." I said.

"You're sorry?" Lyla asked. "But we were the ones that screwed up! We turned your brother into a merman!"

"One, he's not my brother anymore." I said. "Second, it was an accident! And more importantly you guys are like my family. I'm so sorry for doubting you."

"You're the best!' Sirena said.

"Thalassa! Come on, time for school!" I hear my new mother.

"Coming Mom!" I shouted.

"So, you now live in this house?" Nixie asked.

"Yep. I gotta go to school, see you guys." I ran upstairs, got my schoolbag and met Mom outside in her silver car. It looked like a Toyota Yaris Sedan. Probably because it was.

"Get in." Mom said from the driver's window. I buckled my seat-belt in the front seat.

"I figured if we're going to school as mother and daughter in secret, we'd do it in style."

"Why do it in secret?" I asked.

"Because the school isn't ready to know just yet." Mom explained. "Don't worry, this just needs time to settle into our lives. Your adoptive parents already know the whole story."

"Were they freaked out?" I asked.

"Yes." She said. "They asked me how you knew and I said we did a genetic testing, told our pasts and boom, we found out the truth."

"Nice Mom." I said high fiving her, "When can I tell people that I'm the principal's daughter?" 

"When the time is right." She said,

"Something tells me they're going to freak." We pulled up about 5 minutes away from the campus.

"You'll walk from here. Remember, if you have any questions or you need someone to talk to, you know where to find me."

"Thanks… Ms. Santos." I said awkwardly.

Later at the campus…

Why was everybody staring at me? Do I have something on my face? I mean, everywhere I go today, people stare at me and whisper behind my back.

"Hey Blair!" I heard Jackie Williamson. "Or should I say, Thalassa." I stopped in my tracks. How did they know already?

"What are you talking about? Why is everybody staring at me?" I asked.

"You mean you don't know? It's all over the school!"She said.

"What is?" I asked.

"This!" She opened her tablet, opening a page of an article. It read in the headlines: "Could Blair Blakely actually be Rita's lost daughter?" I read through it and I felt my anger boiling trough my chest. Because Evie wrote it.

"I'M GOING TO KILL HER!" I stormed off to Mom's office.

"Thalassa? What are you doing here?" She asked.

"I need to use your computer for a second." She logged on and I entered the online school magazine.

"What happened?" She asked.

"Evie let loose in the papers." "So why does Blair share a resemblance to our principal and share the same birth date as her late daughter? I never got an answer to that. Perhaps Blair's connection could be a key point to solving the mystery of her birth parents. Ms. Santos denied any knowledge of Blair's origin, and said that there was no relation to her whatsoever."

"What?" It didn't take a genius to know that my mom was furious.

"Mom, do you see what this means? We've already spent one night together as mother and daughter and our secret is at stake! I knew I should have denied that offer to be in the article!" I started freaking out.

"Thalassa, it's not your fault. I will talk to Evie."

"I'll go with you." I said getting up.

"No, it's one more thing to get Evie to ask more questions."

"Ok, but she still has to answer to me." I said warning her.

When we left the office, I followed her without her noticing me to where Zac was in a chemistry classroom. I waited outside.

"Very well done, Evie." Yeah, well done exposing us.

"I was only doing my job." Ok, no one talks back to my mother that way!

"A good journalist can't be afraid to ask the difficult questions no matter who their subject is." No kidding.

"Yes, exactly." That's when I decided to step in.

"A good journalist also knows where to draw the line. And if they don't, their subject will draw it for them. In other words: keep that nose of yours where it belongs. And out of where it doesn't."

"Young lady!" Rita spoke like a true mother disciplining the child. "Not another word, now get to class."

"Zac, we're going to have a talk later!"

Later that day…

I was on my way to class, when I saw Mom. She didn't look so good. Weak actually.

"Rita?" I heard Lyla.

"Are you ok?" I asked.

"I don't know. I was talking to Zac and I just felt weak. It's almost as if the life being drained out of me." If that's what she was feeling, then it must have meant that Zac brought the trident to school. "What are you girls doing here?"

"Yes, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Let's get your mother to her office first." We made our way to Mom's office. She looked like she needed the rest.

"What are you guys doing here?" Mom asked.

"We think Zac might have brought the trident to school." Lyla said.

"Here?" Mom asked.

"It's possible Mom. Anything to stop them getting it." I said.

"I wonder if that's what could be affecting me." Mom said.

"We've got to find him." said Nixie.

"His first class is chemistry, Block 4 Room 18. I'll come." Mom said but I stopped her.

"No Mother, you need to rest. You guys go, Sirena and I will stay."

"You sure?" Lyla asked.

"Of course now go get Zac!" Sirena shouted.

"Where were you when it happened?" Nixie asked.

"At the lockers." With that said, Nixie and Lyla left. A few minutes later, Evie came in.

"Sorry to disturb you Ms. Santos, but I need to talk to you."

"Not now Evie, you'll have to make an appointment with my assistant Anna."

"Where's Zac?" Ok, now she was starting to get on my nerves.

"Look, I know you two are close but I can't discuss this with you."

"Something is going on and I want to know what it is."

"Aren't you due in class shortly?" Sirena asked.

"First your nieces turn up, then Blair spends more time with you and now Zac vanishes. What is going on?"

"You have had your chance to ask questions. You wrote your article, now please, just go to class." Yeah Mom! What? Evie was starting to get under my skin. A few minutes, Nixie and Lyla came.

"We know where Zac is." They said.

"I want to go with you." I said.

"What?" Nixie asked.

"You guys are right." I said. "Zac will never listen to us. They only way to get that trident off of him is to fight."

"So much of our lives have been about staying away from mermen tribes." Nixie said. "We can't ask you to risk your life too."

"Let me help." I said. "Please. Look, I know Zac better than anyone, please let me fight alongside you. If I'm going down, I might as well go down in a blaze of glory."

"Fine, but don't come crying to us if you get hurt." Lyla snapped.

Later at the warehouse…

We were invisible though. But Zac grew suspicious of the stillness. He waved the trident around and we couldn't stay invisible.

"Thought as much." He said. "Thalassa." 

"Zac." I shot back.

"Traitor."

"Tyrant." Lyla stretched her hand and the trident stopped in mid-air because Zac tried to grab it back. I tried to use my powers to even Lyla's advantages but Cam kicked a box and it hit me in the shin. Zac got the trident and used it to send an energy blast, knocking us down to this pile of boxes. We ran and turned invisible. I went behind a wall of boxes because I couldn't hold it for long. Rule number 5 of stealth: Never give away your position unless giving a dramatic entrance. I saw Sirena try to take it off him by force but a blast of energy strikes her weakening her.

"Sirena! You ok?" I asked. But suddenly a truck was approaching. Oh man. Bad. We turned invisible and quickly got out before anyone could "see" anything.

"Now I know why you're all so scared of it." Zac said proudly.

"This isn't over Zachary. This isn't over by a long shot!"

"Oh I think it is."

Later at the grotto…

"You feeling any better?" Lyla asked Sirena.

"It was weird." She said. "It was like all the life was being drained out of me."

"That's exactly how I felt at the school." Mom said.

"Every time we tried to use our powers, it counteracted them. And it made us visible."

"What is this thing?" I asked. "It's like none of powers work against it."

"That's why it was locked away all those years ago. It's designed to override everything we do. And worse." Mom trailed off.

"Worse?" I asked.

"So it's more than just a weapon?" Lyla asked.

"Is there something you're not telling us, because now would be a pretty good time." Nixie pushed on.

"The trident was designed by mermen who tried to seize Mako a millennium ago." Mom explained. "Now that it's alive again, if it's taken to the moon pool during a full moon, it'll destroy the pool and the source of all our power. But once that happens, a massive tsunami will be unleashed big enough to wipe out the entire Gold Coast." Woah. I did not see that one coming. "I'm sorry I never told you this before, it's just I never thought Zac would manage to activate it. Let alone control it."

"No wonder there was a war." Nixie said.

"We have to get it off him." Lyla muttered.

"How?" Sirena asked.

"I don't know guys." I said. "But we are going to find a way."


	22. Aquata Returns

"Thalie?" I woke up to Sirena shaking me. I looked at my clock. It read 8:30 a.m. "Wake up wake up!"

"Sirena, I'm not a morning person." I grumbled.

"Too bad, I've got a surprise for you." She said happily.

"Can you show me it later?"

"No." As soon as I tried to go back to my beauty sleep, Sirena pulled the covers off.

"You wanna go swimming?" My ears perked up. Of course I would love to go swimming! It's literally in my blood. I got up, got changed in my swimsuit, and followed Sirena to the pool. The grotto one. We stopped about 20 yards away.

"Where are we going Sirena?" I asked.

"Like I said, it's a surprise." She said.

"What is it?" I asked curiously.

"If I told you it wouldn't be a surprise now would it?" Sirena said carefully.

"If you tell me, I'll still act surprised." I said trying to get her to crack.

"Nice try. You really are your father's daughter aren't you? From what I've heard your dad was quite always up to no good mischief. Now come on." Superspeed swimming, we went under this underwater cave that was about 50 meters long. Finally we surface in this pool. Something told me that this was no ordinary pool. My first clue was that the water in here was the calmest of any water I had ever seen in the entire reef. While the sea was rough and moving constantly, this pool had nice warm water.

"Welcome to the moon pool." Nixie opened her arms, in a welcoming gesture.

"Alright I admit it." I said. "This is pretty cool. It's amazing actually." We spent about an hour talking about the moon pool. Apparently another surprise was in store for me because my aunt and Aquata bursted through the surface of the pool.

"Aquata, you came back!" Sirena said hugging her sister. "I've been hoping for this for so long!"

"Aunt Kailani?" I asked.

"Hello Blair." She said.

"Aunt Kailani, Blair is gone." I said. "How about a hug for your niece, Thalassa?"

"You mean… you've made the choice?" I told her everything that happened. Aquata's face was priceless.

"Thalassa- I mean Thalie, you mean to tell me that the land boy that fell in here and transformed into a merman was your adoptive brother?!" She nearly shrieked.

"Pretty much sums it up." I said.

"I can't believe this." She said. "And you didn't tell him about you being a half blood didn't you?"

"I might have." I said cringing.

"Out on the reef, I think I might have seen your brother." Aquata said.

"So anyway, Auntie." I said trying to clear the tension. "How come you're back?"

"Well I'm just visiting you." She said noticing my look. "What? Can't an aunt check on her own niece?"

"Well yeah." I said, cringing knowing that they were going to freak out. "And there's something you should know. About a couple months after you guys left, Zac might have…kind of got the trident. And it just happens to be charged."

"He's got it." Aquata said. "He unlocked the chamber. Kailani, we were right to flee."

"The last time mermen had the trident, they tried to take over the entire world. Starting with Mako." Aquata reminded us.

"That's why we're going to get it back." Nixie told them.

"That's your plan?" Kailani asked rhetorically. "You're going to take it off him?"

"You'd be surprised as to what these girls can do." I said proudly.

"We've learned to go on land." Sirena told her sister.

"You mean… with legs?" Aquata asked disgusted. 

"We've learnt to mix with land people." Both Adreena and Aquata look at us with a look of disgust. Who can blame them?

"They're actually quite bearable." Nixie said. "Once you get used to the strange smell."

"Look what we're trying to say is that we've done things that no one thought we could." Sirena said. "So who's to say that we can't get the trident back?"

"And when we do we can match his powers." Lyla said.

"We'll get him back to normal." Nixie said.

"And my aunt's pod can come back!" I said happily.

"Especially now you two are here to help us." Sirena added on. There was a pregnant pause.

"Can my sister and I please have a moment?" Aquata asked.

"Thalassa, come on." My aunt said. We both swam to my house pool.

"Be right back." I got dry, ran up to the kitchen, where I saw Mom.

"Mom! You'll never believe who's here. Come on!" I grab her hand and ran to the grotto pool.

"Kailani?" she asked.

"Hello big sis." She said happily.

"What are you doing here?" Rita asked.

"Can't a sister visit her own?" Kailani asked.

"I suppose so." My mom then got in the pool and I did to. We then sat on the smooth rock ledges.

"Are you here to help us with Zac?" I asked.

"Thalie I can't stay." Aunt Kailani said to me. "I have to return to the pod."

"When?" I asked.

"Tomorrow." She said sadly.

"Oh." I said deflated, earning a stroke on the cheek from my mother.

"Well, Rita, I have spoke with my niece here and it seems that she has inherited the knack of trouble her father had." Kailani said breaking the silence.

"Yes she has." We talked for some time before my aunt had to leave.

Line break…

"Aquata spoke up for you at the mermaid council?" Lyla asked. I felt some anger boil up in my chest. At the mention of them I get a little tense.

"Many times." Sirena was crying.

"Well that takes a lot of courage." My mom said.

"She's some sister." Nixie said.

"Yes." said Sirena crying. "Yes she is."

"Well why are you crying? This is good news." Nixie said.

"We can return to the pod." Lyla said.

"No you can't." Sirena said. "Aquata could only vouch for me. She couldn't vouch for you. They didn't think she could be responsible for all of us. I'm sorry this is just totally unfair."

"Yeah Sirena." I spoke. "That unfairness is to be expected of those lowlife, murderous, backstabbing evil monsters!"

"Thalassa, that is enough!" I kept my mouth shut.

"They're probably right." Lyla said now crying. "It wouldn't be fair on Aquata, who'd keep Nixie out of trouble?"

"And who'd wanna be responsible for Lyla?" Nixie added on.

"Besides, they have to stay here and get the trident back." I said.

"And that's what I have to do as well." Sirena pleaded. "I can't leave you guys to do that by yourselves."

"Yes you are." Lyla said. "This is your big chance and you're taking it."

"We know how much the pod means to you." Nixie said.

"And I know just how much it means to you too." Sirena said.

"What about your sister?" I said. "She put herself on the line for you Sirena."

"You can't let her down." Lyla said.

"You have to do this Sirena." My mom added

"What about you?" Sirena asked. "What about dealing with Zac?"

"It's still two against one." Nixie said.

"Hey what about me?" I asked.

"Thalie, last time you faced Zac, we barely escaped." Lyla said.

"Next time I'll be ready." I said determined.

"No, Thalassa. And that's final." My mom said.

"I can't do this." Sirena said.

"Yes you can." Lyla said firmly.

"What about David?" Sirena asked. "What am I gonna tell him?"

"Nothing." I said "Just go."

"Exactly." Nixie said. "Avoid any questions. We'll think of something."

"I can't say goodbye." Sirena said weeping.

"Yes you can." Lyla said firmly. "You're going to. We know how much you feel about leaving us. We feel the same way too. But this is your big chance. We're not going to let you miss it." We got into a big group hug. Sirena left.

Later at the moon pool…

Nixie and Lyla told us about what happened. Oh man this was bad. Of all places for Zac to find, why did it have to be the moon pool?

"We've got no choice." said Sirena. Nixie and Lyla have to come with us now."

"The council won't allow it." My aunt said.

"Of course they wouldn't." I mumbled.

"Can't you make them listen, like they did for me?" Sirena asked.

"It won't work Sirena." said Aquata said solemnly.

"What are they gonna do?" Sirena asked. "Where are they gonna go?"

"We'll manage." Nixie said quickly.

"But you can't stay here." Kailani said. "Not now after a merman has invaded the moon pool with the trident."

"They can stay at my house." I suggested.

"You mean live on land?" Aquata said.

"If Thalie and Rita can do it so can we." Lyla said.

"Who's this Rita?" asked Aquata.

"My mother." I said.

"She helped us." Sirena said. "We wouldn't have coped on land without her."

"I think that's one more good reason you're leaving." Aquata said.

"I'm not going." Sirena said stubbornly.

"Yes you are." I said. "I'm going to miss my aunt, just as much as we're going to miss you."

"We leave at first light tomorrow." said Kailani.

The next morning…

Pretty much everyone was there. We came to say goodbye. I still hate goodbyes.

"Say hi to everyone for us." said Nixie.

"I will." Sirena said.

"Be careful." Mom said.

"Don't worry I'll be fine." said Sirena. "And don't fight."

"Then you're just taking the fun out of it." Nixie joked.

"I don't wanna go." Sirena whined. "I don't wanna leave you."

"It'll be ok." I said hugging her.

"How will I know?" Sirena asked. "We'll be able to get messages to each other won't we? I'll find a way."

"We know you will." Lyla said.

"Aquata, Sirena." Kailani We have to go. Goodbye my niece. You too Rita."

We got into a group hug. Then they disappeared into the water.

Line break…

In my room, I paced and paced. Then something crossed my mind. If Zac thought he could take over the most sacred place of my family, then he was sadly mistaken. I'm not giving it up just like that.

At Zac's house…

I think I arrived there a little too late. Because I saw Zac raise his trident and he looks like he is about to strike.

"STOP! I won't let you hurt them!" I shouted.

"I'm not here to fight you." Zac said coldly.

"But I wanna fight you! If you want my family's sacred place, you'll have to get through me first!"

"No Thalie!" Nixie cried.

"Have it your way." Cam gave me a cruel look. Zac raised the trident and out came 3 blasts of energy. I used my moon ring to try to block it and the girls tried to make a wall of invisible force to also try to block it.

"We could have made a great team." Zac said to me. "But you're a fool. Just like your mother." No one talks about my mom that way! I used my anger to fuel the wall but Zac just keeps pushing back. Finally our wall collapsed, and I almost fainted. But no. I'm not giving up just yet.

"Ha! It's over girls. You've lost." I ran up to him and try to punch him in the face but he dodges. "A true warrior's spirit. We're the same you and me."

"We're nothing alike!" With that, everything went black.

Line break…

"Thalie! Thalie!" I woke up to Sirena shaking me. Wait Sirena?

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"You were unconscious." She explained. "You were pretty exhausted. I thought your mother told you not to face that merman."

"Yeah well Aquata, being part human means that I have stubbornness issues." I thought I was in my bed or something but then I looked down to see my golden tail in the waters of the moon pool.

"Thalassa Santos, when your mom hears about this you are going to be grounded for a week!" Oh man. Lyla then came up looking exhausted.

"Whoa Lyla. You ok?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm good." She said breathlessly.

"Where's the trident?" Nixie asked.

"It's hidden where Zac won't find it." Lyla replied. "Now the trident is safe, you're free to go back with Aquata."

"You're not coming with me are you?" Aquata asked.

"No. I'm not." She said.

"Sirena, this is your chance to go back home." Nixie pushed on.

"No it's not." Sirena said. "I am home. I appreciate what you did for me, standing up for me with the mermaid council and all. But it's our fault the pod had to leave. We have to make this right Lady Kailani. And we have to make it safe for mermaids and prove we're worthy of our moon rings.

"You all don't need to prove anything, any of you." Aquata said proudly. "My little sister is a grown up mermaid and I'm very proud."

"And my little niece is growing up and I'm already very proud of her." Kailani said hugging me.

"I'm going to miss you again." Aquata said.

"Me too." Sirena said. "But we'll sing together again someday."

"Lady Kailani and I are going to make sure that the whole pod Mako isn't lost forever, because there are three brave mermaids and one extraordinary half blood who would never let the moon pool go." With that note, I saw two tails leave. I left to go home. But when I got there, I saw Mom with a frown on her face.

"Thalassa Santos, you are in so much trouble." Uh oh.

"So, my sister tells me that you snuck off to confront Zac. What were you thinking? You could have been hurt. Or worse." She said as I was getting dry. "To ensure this doesn't happen again, you'll be getting a special kind of grounding. A couple of days in detention would do.

"But Mom!" I pleaded.

"That's final, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. I'm telling you this because I love you and I look out for you." She said.

Later at the ocean café…

Even though Sirena's singing was pretty awesome, I couldn't help but think if Zac is going to try to find the trident. If it's hidden somewhere where it's not the moon pool, it had better be a good spot.


	23. Evie Times 2

I walked down to the grotto. 2 days of torment in my detentions have passed. Ugh. Nixie was observing stuff and Lyla and Sirena were dressing up. At least I think they were.

"Shoo cat." Nixie mumbled.

"FYI Nixie, the cat happens to be called Poseidon." I said.

"Oh hey Thalie." Lyla said. "What's with the grumpy gust today? Still getting over your little detention?"

"Hey, it was torture in there." I said. "How about showing a little sympathy?"

"What did she make you do?" Sirena said.

"On the first day, she made me write 15 lines, on the board, "Mother knows best."

"Really?" Sirena asked.

"Oh it was worse on the last day." I said. "She made me watch her grade my papers."

"Ooh." Nixie said with pity. "The first one is embarrassing, but the second one is just torture."

"I know right?"

" Hey what's this?" Nixie started waving a green bottle.

"Unless, I'm here." My mother came in. "The phials are off limits."

"What do they do?" I asked.

"They do many things." My mom said. "Heal wounds, neutralize just about anything. It's a potent tincture too powerful for you."

"When can we learn about them?" Lyla said.

"After you get your moon rings." My mom said.

"Well I'm pretty sure we're ready now." Nixie defended.

"Sorry to burst your bubble guys, but judging from how you three manage to get yourselves into trouble, I'd say you're anything but ready." I said.

"Thalie!" Lyla exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, but it's the truth." I said, raising my hands in surrender.

"Thalassa, you ready for our shopping errand?" My mom asked.

"Yeah."

"David will be here soon with the fish order. It needs to be unpacked. And I ordered some special treats for Poseidon."

"Yeah and make sure you don't put a lobster next to me when I sleep like somebody did." I glared at Nixie.

"What? It was an honest prank!" Nixie defended.

"Yes Nixie, an honest prank that got my daughter to wake me up at 5 in the morning by screaming for her life." My mom said.

"Rita you gotta admit, that prank was pretty good." Nixie laughed.

I glared at her. "Still not funny."

Later at the supermarket…

"So, Thalassa, tell me about how you first dealt with high school." Mom said as we were near the meat section.

"Well Mom I spent the last day of summer avoiding Rob." I said.

"Oh no. What happened then?" Mom asked, sort of worried.

"Oh you're gonna love this." I said. I wake up, the sun is shining in my face, I saunter down to breakfast thinking all is right with the world and then I get, "Blair we need to talk." I spoke in a deep voice.

"Not now Pops." Mom spoke in a high voice, shaking her shoulders. "I've got a whole day of goofing off to get started."

"Ok first of all, I don't sound like that. What is this character? And second, what is that thing you're doing with your shoulders? Real flattering impersonation mother. Any way, he goes, 'you're going to high school and I couldn't be prouder."

"Aww. Thanks Pops, I'm pretty impressed with myself too!" Mom again impersonated me.

"When have I ever, done that with my hands?" I wave my hands around.

"You just did!" Mom exclaimed almost laughing.

"Hold still, very serious!" We just laugh for a bit.

"Oh and there's one more thing Thalassa, remember when I graded your papers?" Mom asked deviously.

"Yeah, and you forced me to watch? How could I forget?" I groaned.

"Ok. I confess, those were copies of your actual work that was already graded." Mom confessed. "I just needed to teach you a lesson. Besides your face was pretty funny."

"You mean those were fakes? Mother!" I exclaimed.

"Sorry. I just couldn't resist." Mom said laughing.

Later back at my house…

"Nixie, they're for Poseidon!" I heard Lyla yell. I saw what I'd never thought I'd live to see: Nixie feeding Poseidon. Hmmm. Something's up.

"Sirena, can we talk please?" She got up and she followed me to the bookcase.

"Ok what happened?" She told me everything that happened. I dis not believe this! Evie McLaren actually dared to snoop through my house?! OOOOOOHHHHHHHH! If only there was some other way to express these feelings to my like minded peer! Wait…

"Sirena, pardon me! I want to give Evie A PIECE OF MY MIND!"

Then at Evie's house…

I rang the doorbell. Her dad opened the door.

"Yes?" He asked.

"Can I see Evie?" I asked sweetly.

"Sure." He said.

"What do you want?" Evie asked me.

"A source of mine says that you were snooping through Rita's house." I asked. "Is that correct? Don't answer that. Look, there are some thingd that should be kept secret. In other words, curiousity kills the cat. Stay away from Rita, and her nieces. Understood?" I ran off to the curb when I stopped.

"Believe me Evie." Sheesh. As if one Evie was good.


	24. Zac's Choice

"Zac's onto something." said Lyla. "He's searching everywhere for it."

"Yes but was he anywhere near it?" Nixie asked in reply.

"No."

"There's your answer. It's a big ocean and it's a pretty small trident."

"We just need to keep an eye on him. That's all."

"Lyla's right." I spoke. "He's smarter than you think he is."

"I doubt that."

"If there's one thing I know about Zac, it's that he won't give up on this one."

"Kind of sounds like you're a big fan of his."

"Look Nixie, I was stuck with him for 13 years, so I know what I'm talking about. Ok?"

Line break…

"Today's lesson, the power of the moon ring! Thalassa, may I use yours?"

"Mine? But you've got a moon ring can't you use that?"

"I don't like to. I never wear my ring. I took it off when I left the pod and came to live here."

"But still can't you just-

"It's just a lesson." Nervous, I handed her the ring.

"It takes years to master the power of the moon ring. Now look at the aquarium. Now focus on the seaweed."

"I'm sorry. Is this about the aquarium or is this about seaweed?"

"Mermaids have the power to become invisible. But we can't hold it forever. Sometimes nature can provide a bit of instant camouflage."

"Like our tails. A mermaid's tail is bronze to fit in with the coral, a merman's is blue to mix with the sea. While mine's is gold and silver to blend with the light reflecting through the water's surface."

"Excellently said Thalassa. Couldn't have said it better myself."

"Show off." Lyla muttered in my ear.

"Hothead." I replied.

"Now," my mom continued. "Focus on the ring, meld your thoughts with it, and above all be positive. Unleashing positive energy is crucial." The seaweed started to rise, overflowing the tank.

"That's incredible!"

"Wow. I could completely disappear if I was a goldfish."

"A mermaid that can use the moon ring can increase the size of a kelp forest the same way. Nixie you're up." Oh man. Every time Nixie was first to try something, she ended up blowing up something!

"Nixie's going to blow the seaweed up isn't she?" I whispered to Lyla.

"That you can be sure of." Nixie used the moon ring energy. But when she did, instead of growing even bigger, it turned black and crispy.

"You killed it!"

"Ok it was my first try!"

"Like I said, it takes years of practice."

"The trident has the same stone as the moon ring but it's so much bigger."

"Yes, it shares the same power source: moonlight."

"No wonder it's a hundred times more powerful."

"And that's why the danger from it is immense."

Later at the ocean café…

My phone suddenly buzzed alive with a new text from Helen.

I just saw Cam with scuba gear, but strangely he was alone.

Thank you Helen.

"Guys. My friend Helen just saw Cam heading off with scuba gear."

"Was he with anyone?"

"No he was by himself. It's strange though. Those two basically have done everything together, meaning if they dive, they don't dive alone."

"So? What it's not like he can stay down there very long with those silly tanks."

"What if he's meeting someone." Lyla started to sound worried. "What if he's meeting Zac?"

"You worry too much." Lyla got up and headed outside. We followed her.

"Lyla, look even if Cam is meeting Zac, there's no reason to think that he's anywhere near the trident. It'll be weeks before they find anything."

"Yeah Nixie, I bet that's just what you guys said before Zac got the trident first."

"Thalie's right. What he is onto something? What if he figures out that I didn't make it the whole way there? What if he's figured out that it's somewhere between here and Mako?"  
"Ok. You both might have good points. He might be a lot smarter than I think We should check it out."

"No I'll do it. I know where it is."

"Do you want us to come with you?"

"I'll be fine." Lyla left. While Nixie and Lyla were distracted, I turned invisible and followed Lyla through the sea. If Lyla's going out to face Zac with the trident, she's going to need backup. I hid behind this small cave. I managed to pull my fin back in time before Lyla could see. If she catches me, she'll get me back with Mom grounding me. And I ain't going back to Mom's grounding method. I saw Cam wave over to Zac. Please tell me he didn't just find the trident. But I seemed to have jinxed my luck because Zac pulled the trident out of this small cave. Lyla then tried to grab it but Zac kept pulling back. I swam up to them.

Stop! You're only making it worse!

Stay out of this Thalie! Suddenly the moonstone started to glow and I got in Lyla's way. A burning pain struck my heart and I fell to the ground. The last thing I saw was Zac looking at me in horror before the world collapsed in darkness. The last thing I heard was Lyla screaming my name.

Lyla's POV

I could only watch in horror as Thalie's lifeless body fell on the ground. Her breathing was shallow. I had to get her to Rita's ASAP. I swam back the Rita's pool.

"Help!" Zac yelled. "Anyone! Help! It's Thalassa!" Rita, Nixie, and Sirena came over and gasped in horror at the sight of Thalie. They got her dry and laid her on a sofa.

"What have you done?!" Nixie cried out.

"I don't know. I found the trident, we fought over it, Thalie swam in Lyla's way, and then there was a flash."

"You did this?!"

"Just help her please."

"We need to move quickly, can you get me that shell box? This is going to require that we all work together. Lyla take Thalassa's ring. Ok now hold your rings over her. Focus on them, they have the power to heal."

"But remember what I did to that seaweed? I don't wanna hurt her."

"You have to trust yourself. Now let your thoughts focus on her." As our rings lit up, a blue glow lit up her skin and hair. It's like Little Thalie's dying all over again. Shortly our ring's glow vanishes and so does the glow on Thalie's body.

"What happened?" Zac asked.

"The rings are spent. It's been too long since they've been exposed to the light of the full moon." Rita then broke down crying over her.

"Thalassa, oh my poor child." I heard her through broken sobs. We all cried a little. Rita's head snaps around.

"You Zac Blakely!" She said with utter rage and heartbreak. "YOU DID THIS!" I can't blame her. Losing her flesh and blood can really cause you extreme pain. To lose Thalie who had just started living in our family was a huge pain.  
"See how stupid you've been?" Nixie said. "And all for what? Rita's own daughter dying because of you!"

"There must be something we can do." Zac said to me.

"Without the power of the ring, we don't have time to wait before the next full moon to charge them. There might be another way. The trident it stores the power of the moon."

"You've got the trident." Rita said. "You have to let us use it! We have to save my daughter!"

"It's the only way Zac."

"I knew we couldn't trust him." said Nixie. "Why would he care? He basically disowned her that night she betrayed him." Zac then rushed off. A few minutes later he came back with the trident glowing.

"What do I have to do?"

"Hold your rings out. Nixie that means you too."

"But this isn't seaweed, I mean how do we know what he's gonna do with it."

"I just wanna help Thalie."

"Oh yeah, like you just did?"

"Nixie we have to do this."

"The trident stores the power of moonlight. You need to use it to fuel the rings with that light."

"But last time it took the moonlight from the rings. How do I make it give it back?"

"Focus your mind on it. And what you want it to do."

"So I just aim at them?"

"You're in control, remember that." The trident glowed and moonlight flowed back into our rings.

"That should be enough. Remember your lessons." We held out our rings over Thalie, whose body glowed again. Her head jerked up and she started breathing normally.

"Are you alright, can you hear us?"

"Thalie." Zac said.  
"Zac, you're here. What exactly happened? Did I miss an ice cream party?" We all laugh at Thalie's humor. She's going to be fine. Rita then gave her a hug.

2 hours later… (Back in Thalie's POV)

Even though I was getting better, Mom was still pretty mad that I had risked my life for the third time. So I was relieved that she gave me a grounding detention for a day, instead of the rest of my life.

"Hey." I said. I was on the roof where Zac, Sirena, Lyla, and Nixie were.

"Are you ok?" Zac asked me.

"A little weak but getting better."

"We were worried sick."

"All I knew was that I was so weak that I didn't wanna come back. I was in a tunnel, heading for this warm white light, and I swear my dad was there. And then I felt your energy, pulling at me, urging me to return. I wanted to fight it and stay there. But my dad then said, "turn around my little mermaid, and listen to your mother's song." Besides, you guys are pretty hard to resist. Thank you"

"Hey, Thalie, how about a hug, little sis?"

"Now you call me little sis?"

"Look, I'm sorry, for everything."

"You're sorry? But I'm the one that betrayed you!"

"You were just trying to help and more importantly, whether we're bound by blood or how we were raised, you're still my little sister no matter what. I'm so sorry for even saying you weren't." I gave him a long hug.

"I didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't know I could do that so quickly."

"Yeah I know."

"I never even should have brought the trident out in the first place."

"At last we agree on something." Nixie said.

"None of this is what I wanted."

"Then you gotta put the trident back where it belongs, please. What happened to me, it's nothing. It can do so much worse."

"Thalie! It's a mermaid's deepest secret."

"He should know. Hasn't he proven himself trustworthy today? If the trident is taken to the moon pool on a full moon. It'll destroy the moon pool forever, unleashing a tidal wave that will obliterate the entire Gold Coast. That's why mermaids fear it so much. That's why you have to put it back."

Later at Mako Island…

"You know we can leave it any time." Nixie said.

"And let the tunnel entrance close over? Zac's not out yet."

"So he gets stuck in there, too bad."

"Zac helped save my life."

"Only after putting it in jeopardy in the first place."

"He didn't know what the trident could do. You heard him say that."

"So now he does. Who knows if he'll really put the trident back?"

"We can trust him, I'm sure of it." Zac then came out with no trident in hand or in sight.

"You don't have to worry anymore." He said. "It's locked away and no one can get to it."

"Except you."

"I can't get in there without you guys."

"Except when there's a full moon. He doesn't need us then."

"Zac's kept his word." Lyla spoke up. "I believe him."

"Me too."

"Me three."

"Thanks."

"No. Thank you for saving me and for doing the right thing by putting it back."

"It was locked away for a good reason, I can see that now. It has to be left there. I don't want anything to do with it anymore." We left but Nixie stayed behind eyeing the entrance.

"Nixie, I know what's on your mind. The deed is done. It's time to put the past behind us."


	25. Trust

I was on my way to class when I saw Zac walking past me.

"Hey Zac." I said.

"Hey." Hey said a little downbeat.

"I heard you got into a fight today." I said. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah." He said.

"Let me guess, Cam was still mad about the trident?" I guessed.

"You could say that." He said.

"Not everyone is going to agree with your decision but you did the right thing." I said. "Ever since you became a merman, life hasn't been easy for you, has it?"

"No, it's like I have a foot in two different worlds." Zac said to me. "One here on land, the other out at sea."

"Believe me, you don't know how much I understand. I got to get to class." 

The next morning in the grotto…

"Mom we've got everything set up for the lesson." I said.

"That's great. We have a visitor. Come in." Zac came in.

"Hey Zac." Lyla said cheerfully.

"What's he doing here?" Nixie asked.

"Zac's here because I invited him." My mom said sternly. "He's caught between two worlds, it's making things really difficult for him. He wants to know more about what happened. Problem is, mermaids don't really know that much about mermen."

"Why not?" He asked confused.

"Probably because we're all too busy escaping you." I gave Nixie a glare.

"Some mermen have tried to destroy us in the past." Sirena said.

"According to our history, it's been that way ever since there was a war between us long ago." Lyla said.

"Oh that's right. A war between us." Nixie pointed out.

"Do the words 'long ago' mean anything to you?" I asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Excuse me but it didn't seem that long ago when he had a trident on us."

"He put it back, what else do you want him to do?" I asked.

"You know you're the reason why our pod left Mako." Nixie said sternly. "Mermaids wouldn't dare be around a merman."

"I can't just pack up and move." Zac said.

"You don't have to." Nixie said. "All you have to do is stop being a merman. Go back to your world and we will go back to ours."

"How?" Zac asked.

"It may be possible to reverse what happened." Mom said. "We think that if you're in the moon pool during a full moon, it might reverse what happened."

"I gave up the trident. I didn't expect to have to give up my powers as well."

"I knew it."

"Nixie this is a huge thing we're asking of him." Lyla said, defending Zac.

"They're not his powers, they're ours." Nixie stated. "He got them by accident! We told him what he had to do and he said he won't."

"At least give him a chance to think about it!" I shouted.

"Yeah! A chance to hang around us so he knows exactly how to attack us later!" Nixie countered.

"Nixie that's enough!" My mom snapped.

"We need to talk." I escorted her to the roof. "What in the hell is wrong with you?"

"There's nothing wrong with me, you're the one he almost killed." Nixie pointed out. "Do you not know that?"

"Yeah, I know that." I said. "But I also know that he was the one who saved me!"

"Yeah!" Lyla agreed.

"He didn't have to do that." Sirena said.

"He didn't have to zap Thalie in the first place!" Nixie said. "He didn't have to make himself our enemy but he did!"

"He also didn't have to put the trident back but he did!" Lyla yelled.

"Yeah right where he can get it straight next full moon." Nixie said.

"I don't think he'd do that." said Lyla.

"Based on what?" Nixie asked.

"Based on he said he won't and I trust him!" I yelled.

"I trust him too!" Sirena and Lyla said in unison.

"You're all nuts!" Nixie said.

"Us nuts?" I snapped. "You're the one who's paranoid!"

"He came here today." said Sirena. "Why would he do that if he was fighting us?"

"Exactly!" Lyla agreed.

"He can still turn against us." Nixie pointed out.

"He won't. He's not our enemy." Lyla said.

"And he's not our friend either. He's never to be trusted. You three wanna sell us out, that's up to you. But I'm not being a part of this."

"Good! Go!" I exclaimed.

"Fine I'm going!" We headed back to the grotto.

"I'm really sorry Zac. We'll work on her, she'll come round."

"No she won't." Zac replied sadly. "This wasn't a good idea. I better go. I really appreciate what you tried to do for me."

"This can still work, we can still help you." Mom said.

"Forget it." Zac said.

An hour later in the grotto…

It was just me and Mom in our private training lesson. I was trying to turn water into ice in a second. I started with a sheet of water into a sheet of ice.

"Very good, Thalassa. Again."

"Mom, not that I'm not bored with the basics, but do I get to turn water into ice weapons?" Wow I sounded like Helen.  
"Ah Thalassa. You're too you young to use weapons."

"I'm only 14. If mermen tribes are going to hate mermaids, don't you think that I'm going to need to learn self-defense."

"No Thalassa, I'm not having you risk your life again. No weapons, and that's final."

"Fine." I turned a sheet of water into ice again. After that, we moved on to what I like to call, the Waterworks. As I concentrated, a ring of water was moving around my hand, without a drop hitting my palm.

"Very good. Keep your movement fluid, like the water itself. Remember, as having mermaid blood in your veins, you're not separate to the ocean, you're part of it." I keep twirling the water like I am twirling a sai and I lose my focus and balance. Instead of landing with a splash, the water got shot straight into the photo of my parents.

"NO!" I cried. Just as the picture was about to fall, I stopped it in mid-air. "Mom, I am so sorry!"

"Thalassa, it's ok. But don't be too reckless. Your father was a little reckless. He was also the person who listens to no one. Now who does that remind you of?"

"Lyla?" I guessed.

"No, you. Your recklessness almost got you killed."

"Mom!" I exclaimed

"I'm telling you this because I love you. You're my husband's child and I made a promise to him before he died to protect you and keep you safe and I don't intend to break it now!"

Later that night…

"Is it safe for me to go back home yet or is he still there?" Nixie asked.

"He's gone back to his place." Lyla answered.

"Until next time." Nixie said.

"What's going on?" Mom asked.

"Oh nothing. Lyla just took Zac to see our moon pool." said Nixie.

"What?" Sirena yelped in shock.

"He has the right to see our world." Lyla said.

"I agree." I said.

"You know while you were off just revealing all of our secrets, I actually got splashed." Nixie complained. "At the café. Yeah where were you to help me?"

"I didn't know, I'm sorry! Are you ok?" Lyla said.

"I didn't know either Nixie." Sirena said.

"Me too." I said.

"I wish I could have been there to help you." Lyla said. "But I'm not sorry that I spent time with Zac. He's just like us. He wants to know about what happened. He wants to know about our connection."

"Yeah so he can use it against us!" Nixie said.

"No so he can be one of us." Lyla said.

"Wait? One of us?" I got a feeling that Lyla was taking this a little too far than it needed to go.

"I want him to join our pod." Ok, she had taken this a bit far.

"What?" I asked in shock.

"Are you kidding me right now?!" Nixie exclaimed.

"Well mermaids have made an alliance with a merman in the past." Lyla pointed out.

"Yeah Lyla." I said. "But that was a millennium ago, count it, 10 centuries!"

"When a merman locked the trident away on Mako, just like Zac did." Lyla said.

"Seriously Lyla?" Nixie asked. "You want us to plead his case to the mermaid council?"

"How? We're still banished." Sirena said.

"And I'm supposed to be dead." I retorted.

"We can at least try."

"Lyla, I'd hate to burst your bubble, but there are still mermen that still kill mermaids." I said. "In other words, they are never going to trust a merman."

"They have in the past, so they will again." Lyla said. "Then there's no reason to change him back, he can stay as a merman, and it'll be safe for the pod the return to Mako."

"They're never going to agree to that Lyla." Mom said.

"Why not?"

"I can tell you why not." Nixie snapped. "It's because you're just thinking about your heart and you're not thinking with your head."

"I am not." Lyla said.

"Yes, actually you are, are you listening to yourself?" Nixie said.

"We can do this. We can make this work." Lyla said.

"Nixie." I said. "It's good to listen to the heart."

"And what would a 14 year old know of the heart?" Nixie asked.

"Apparently more than you. Cause yours is frozen." Nixie looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"I don't have a frozen heart."

"Yes you do." I said. "No wonder your pod kicked my mother out simply for following her heart."

"Thalassa that is enough!"

The next morning at the café…

"Remember what you said to my mom yesterday?" I asked Zac.

"Me turning up wasn't a good idea?" he replied dejectedly

"She meant what she said. She wants to help you. I want to help you. You're welcome at my house anytime." We then engaged in a hug.

At the grotto…

"You should just start the lesson." Sirena said. She looked rather upset.

"I'd rather wait till Nixie's here." Mom replied.

"That's probably not gonna happen. She doesn't wanna be a part of our class anymore." Oh. Ok, maybe I had gotten a little too far when I told her she had a frozen heart. Now she's upset, and it's all my fault.


	26. Betrayed

Though I'm far away. Across the sea. This moon keeps haunting me. As I spread my wings- I was cut off from my singing lesson with Sirena when Zac came in.

"Hey Zac. What brings you by?" Lyla asked.

"I almost told Evie I was a merman." It took all of my will power to not flip out in front of him.

"Zachary, do you have any idea what you were close to doing?!" I exclaimed.

"I know, I know Thalie." Zac said. "I couldn't help it. I can't keep lying to her."

"Well, not telling the exact truth isn't the same as just lying." Nixie said.

"Actually Nixie it is." I countered.

"No it's not."

"Is"

"Not"

"Is"

"Not"

"Is"

"Not"

"Ladies!" Mom exclaimed.

"It's tearing me up, I have to tell her." Zac whined

"Zac we understand how hard this is, but you have to keep this secret until after the full moon." Mom said.

"Look once you're back to being a normal boy, you don't have to lie anymore." Nixie reminded her.

"You guys said you weren't even sure you can't change me back. What if you can't?" Zac asked.

"You can join our pod." Lyla popped in.

"Lyla, he's a land boy! He doesn't belong in our pod." Nixie snapped.

"Nixie! Look this is a stressful time for all of us, but the full moon's in a couple of days." Mom said. "After that, all of this might be over."

"What if it's not?" Zac asked. "No matter what happens to me, you can still go back to the sea. I have family and friends here. I can't keep lying to the people I love." He then left. Poor Zac. I wish I could understand his pain.

"Thanks a lot Nixie." I said sarcastically.

"You know why you want him to stay as a merman?" Nixie asked. "It's cause you've actually fallen for him and you just can't let him go."

"Nixie!" Sirena said.

"What?" Nixie said. "It's the truth. Ever since he saved Thalie, you've just been stuck on him like a remora on a shark."

"That's nonsense." Lyla said.

"Stop it both of you!" Sirena said with worry. "Arguing won't help."

"Well what somebody do something before we're all really sorry!" There was a moment of silence.

"Nixie's right." Mom said. "The pod will never let a merman in. Zac must go back to being a normal boy."

The next day, at the ocean café…

I sat with Kimi at the café. Sirena was singing. I saw Kimi get up and head toward Zac.

"Looking for Evie? Or Cam? She's gone diving with Cam." She said.

"Are you sure?" Zac asked.

"Positive, they were headed towards Mako." Zac pulled us, Lyla, and Sirena out.

"The trident's safe, right?" He asked.

"Yep." Kimi spoke. "It should be in the water chamber where you left it."

"And the land tunnel only opens with a full moon, right?" Zac asked.

"Well we did open it up with a moon ring." Sirena pointed out.

"But Cam doesn't know that." Zac said.

"Right just all of us and Thalie's friends." Lyla said.

"And Nixie." I said.

"Nixie." Zac said now worried.

"Zac what is it?" I asked.

"Cam and Evie have gone out to Mako." Zac said.

"What's that got to do with Nixie, she's sick, she's at Rita's." Lyla said.

"Are you sure?" Come to think of it, I have been suspicious of Nixie's motives right now. We all ran to Mom's grotto. Lyla checked a shell box.

"There's one missing. Nixie must have taken one of the moon rings." I should have known. With the way she had been acting lately, I should have figured out by then that Nixie would go this far.

"We have to get there!" I yelled. We then superswam as fast as we could to Mako. We were in the woods when Nixie ran into us. Quite literally.

"What are you doing here?" Lyla asked.

"I let Cam and Evie into the trident chamber." Nixie confessed. "And Evie's still in there and she's running out of air."

"Where's Cam?" Zac asked angrily.

"Come on your ring can open the tunnel." We all ran to the land entrance. Luckily Sirena did manage to open it. Zac, Lyla and I ran inside. The portal opened. I will never be not astonished by the swirling vortex of water.

"She's going to see that you're a merman." I said.

"I know that Thalie." He dived inside and in just a matter of a minute, Zac came out with Evie. When we removed the mask, I told her to breathe slowly.

"You had a tail." She said to Zac with freaking outness.

"We are so doomed." I muttered. We then went outside. There was no way we could come up with an excuse. We could have said that she was hallucinating. But then she would have realized that we didn't come on a boat.

"Can someone tell me what just happened?" Evie asked. "Don't all talk at once. Zac?"

"I wanted to tell you for the ages. I almost told you yesterday." He stood still for a minute. "I'm a merman." Evie looked like she had been told she was a mermaid.

"Did you know?" She asked me. I nodded. "Did you three know too?" They all nodded. "And Cam?"

"Pretty much." I strained out.

"So basically everyone except for me." Evie said on the verge of tears.

"Don't be too hard on him." Lyla piped up. "We wouldn't let him tell you."

"Why?" Evie asked.

"We're mermaids." Evie turned her attention to me.

"And I assume you're one of them?"

"No not exactly. I know this is a big shock for you so let me recap: Lyla, Sirena, and Nixie are mermaids. Zac is a merman and I'm a Half Blood."

"Meaning?" Evie asked.

"I was born half human, and half mermaid." She looked white as a sheet of paper. I pulled Nixie aside.  
"Where's the trident?" Lyla asked.

"Cam's got it." Nixie said.

"Have you lost your mind?" I growled.

"I did what I thought was best for the pod, because no one else would." Nixie snarled.

"Where's Cam taken it?" Sirena asked.

"Somewhere Zac won't find it. And when he changes back, we can return it. Look, I'm sorry but this will all work out. Trust me." My stomach did a flip. I couldn't help but think but something didn't seem right about Cam ganging up with Nixie. I didn't even know the half of it.


	27. Decision Time

In a dream…

I'm in the moon pool, where Cam looks down on me evilly.

"Oh Thalie." He said. "If only there were someone out there who understood you."

"What? How did you even get in here?" I asked, not aware that this was a dream.

"As Zac's right hand human man I didn't stand a chance against him. I knew I'd have to get my power somehow." Cam said.

"But what are you talking about?" I asked.

"As his sister, you were preferable to use, but no one was getting anywhere with you. But Zac, he was so desperate for a companion, he was willing to let me in on his secret just like that! I figured after he got control over Mako, I'd have to stage a little accident for Zac. But then you made your choice, and Zac was dumb enough to put it back. All that's left now is to finish my plans, and become King of Mako Island." The trident appeared in his hands, glowing with energy,

"You're no match for that title." I lace every word with venom.

"No, your coward of a brother was no match for that title. I on the other hand, am the person who is going to get what he rightfully deserves." Cam said.

"You won't get away with this."

"Oh, Pigblood, I already have." Suddenly the moon pool starts having an earthquake. Everything turns to white and the dream ends.

I woke up shaking. Ok what the heck was that all about? I go back to sleep, mostly because it's what, 5:30 in the morning!

Later that morning in the grotto…

"Thalie there's something we wanna ask you." Sirena said.

"Of course." I replied.

"When the pod comes back, could you visit?" Sirena asked.

"After all," Lyla said. "You've given us a lot of help. I'm sure Lady Adreena, won't mind her niece visiting for a couple of hours."

"Well I will try to visit." I siad. "You girls belong with the pod, but Mako was never my home. My life's here with Mother. But life's going to be different without you two." We engaged in a hug. I was really going to miss them so much.

Line break…

"The trident is safe." said Nixie. "I made absolutely sure of it."

"The trident was safe when it was with Zac." said Lyla. "You didn't need to interfere."

"Well I don't regret anything."

"Then it's real." said Sirena. "We're leaving."

"You're not leaving." I said. "You're going home to the pod. No more land people, no more legs."

"Yes but that's if Zac will keep his word." Nixie warned.

"Zac will keep his word." I said. "But it's not going to be easy for him."

"It'll be good to get back to the pod and I'm sure in time, forget the things we leave behind." Sirena said.

"Zac's here." Mom said.

"I spoke to Evie." He said. "She agreed to keep quiet until tomorrow."

"So we're all set." Lyla said excited.

"Yes but that remains to be seen if everyone will keep to their side of the deal." Nixie said.

"Everyone will, I'll be back at moonrise." Zac left.

"How are you feeling Sirena?" Mom asked. "Ready for tonight?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Sirena said.

"So you've said your good-byes then?" I said.

"Not exactly." Sirena said after a bit while.

"You mean you haven't said good bye to David?" Lyla asked.

"I don't wanna hurt him!" Sirena cried.

"I know it's hard." Mom said. "I had to chose between two worlds too. But sometimes the things we don't do, hurt more than the things we do."

Later that afternoon…

I walked to Zac's garage. It's been a little while since I called it home. I entered Zac's room.

"Thalie? What are you doing here?" He asked.

"If you're going to the moon pool, then I figured, that we'd take a last swim together when you arrive there." I said.

"Aren't you going to get affected by the moon pool?" Zac asked.

"No. I'm somehow immune to it." Suddenly Evie and Rosalina burst through the door.

"What are you two doing here?" I asked.

"Do I need a reason?" Evie asked.

"It's just… we have to go out, it's nearly time." Zac said.

"You two can't go out there." Rose said. "You're both walking into a trap, they've got you fooled!"

"Evie, I know you don't like them but they're on my side. Now move." Zac said.

"No!" Rosalina cried out.

"Rosalina Gomez, move." I ordered.

"No!" They both shut the door.

"We really have to go." Zac said.

"If you two go to Mako, our deal is off." Evie warned. "I'll tell everyone about them and you."

"No, you wouldn't." Zac said.

"I'm sorry Zac, but I will." Evie warned.

"Rosalina, why are you doing this?" I asked. "We know those girls, we know we can trust them."

"You're wrong! Cam said that- Rose was cut off by me.

"Cam? What does Cam have to do with any of this?" 

"He said they wanna make Zac like this forever and they plan to wipe your memory have you for their pod." I stared at her in disbelief.

"Cam said that?" Zac asked. "Who's idea was it go to Mako to get the trident from me?"

"Cam's." Evie said.

"Right and who has the trident, now?" I asked.

"Cam." Rose said.

"Who planted the seeds of information into your heads earlier today, to try to stop us from going to Mako tonight?" Zac asked.

"Cam." And that's when it dawned upon me. The dream I had was a warning!

"Zac," I said. "A single choice shall result in the betrayal of a friend, Mako Island to preserve or end!" Cam was the friend who was supposed to betray us after I made my choice. It's when I realized that either option of my choice would lead to Cam's betrayal. This line of the prophecy had a double meaning.

"We need to go." We ran out of Zac's garage and leapt into the water.

Line break, at Mako Island…

We ran to the trident chamber entrance. Cam was there.

"You idiot!" I cried. "Do you have any idea what you're doing?"

"Of course I do." He replied. "I'm gonna do what Zac couldn't do."

"You're making a big mistake." Zac said.

"You're wasting your breath." Cam said.

"We don't belong here." Zac reasoned.

"Speak for yourselves." Cam said.

'You could get hurt, seriously hurt." Zac said. "You take that thing in there, it will destroy everything and everyone!"

"Do you remember that night we camped here?" Cam asked. "It should have been me. Not you."

'Having a tail is a burden Cam." I said. "Trust me, I have lived long enough to know that."

"I wasn't asking for your opinion." Cam snapped. "You had your chance Zac, and you gave it up. But I'm not going to." The trident stone glowed brightly, opening the land entrance. "This was meant to happen Zac, you can't stop it."I tried to grab the trident but Cam punched me in the face. I checked my nose for blood, no blood. I saw Zac get thrown to the wall.

"Zac!" I screamed.

"You shouldn't have done that."

"You won't get away with this." I ran to the sea and swam to the moon pool. The girls were already there, keeping Cam from entering. I concentrated and my moon ring was glowing adding more power to the shield.

"You never had anything but your envy Cam." I yelled. "And if you fall into this pool, you will have nothing!"Suddenly Lyla's ring started losing its glow.

"I think my moon ring is losing power." Lyla said.

"It's the trident, it's stronger than our moon rings." Sirena's faded. Nixie and I were the only ones standing, or in this case, treading between Cam and the moon pool. But then, Zac came bursting through the water, blasting the trident away.

"Hold on Nixie." I said. I looked at the trident and I sent every amount of energy into the trident, until the trident exploded. Nixie let Cam in as the moon passed.

"Lost something?" She asked. I looked at the trident, it was nothing but a bunch of pieces. I couldn't believe it. I had destroyed the trident!

The next morning…

I woke up to a good smell. It smelled like pancakes. I ran down and I saw Mom there with a smile on her face.

"Thalassa, let's talk." Mom said. "I remember a little half blood who was struggling to do the right thing. But no one could have made the right choice as well as you have. Today, I see my little girl who helped save the moon pool by destroying the trident herself. Your father would have been as proud of you as I am. There is a journey ahead, but I'm proud to call you my daughter. You have the heart of a true mermaid and the soul of your father." We engaged in a hug.

Line break at Zac's place…

I walked to Zac's place with all of my friends. Their reactions when I told them what happened were hilarious.

"Somebody get me a bucket." Lyla said. Evie apologized for being a bully to them. My friends told her that they would trust her a little. Zac and Evie kissed. Ew. Me and my friends hugged

"I'd race you guys to Mako but let's face it, you're all too slow." Zac said.

"Dream on merboy, I can out swim you any day." Lyla challenged.

"So can I." Nixie added on.

"Me too." said Sirena.

"Count me in." I said boldly. We all dived and swam towards Mako.

Rita's POV…

I watched from my rooftop. I hoped my daughter won't cause too much trouble.

"Rita." I turned around and I saw my late husband there, but he was transparent like a ghost. "You've been so brave my love."

"How are you here?" I asked, tears threatening to spill.

"I never left." He smile.

"I miss you so much." I said. "I wish we could have been a team. A family even."

"Me too, but everything that happens, happens for a reason." Harry said.

"I'm sorry, but our daughter almost died twice in her lifetime." I said. "I just don't wanna lose her again."

"You can't stop her Rita, you can only prepare her." He said. "I know it seems hard, but the truth is, you won't always be there to protect her. She's going to get out there again. She's probably out there now."

"I know." I said.

"Keep taking care of her. Good bye Rita, I'll always be with you." He held my lips against his and we kissed before he vanished.

Back to Thalie in the moon pool…

"Hey Nixie, I wanna apologize for saying you had a frozen heart." I said.

"No need, you spoke what was in your heart. I'm just relieved that you made it home safely." She said.

"Why don't you guys go ahead? I just need some time to think." The rest of the gang left and I was alone.

"Thalie." I was so scared that I nearly fell into the pool.

"Dad!" He chuckled.

"I 'm so proud of you. You have your mother's heart."

"I didn't save the moon pool just for the greater good. I did it to keep Mom's sanity." He chuckled.

"Listen, we don't have much time." He said.

"How old was I when you… you know." I struggled to ask.

"4 months." He said.

"Look I never wanted you to be there all the time, but I would have liked to have seen you just once." I said.

"I know things didn't turn out the way you expected them to." He said. "Just because you didn't see me doesn't mean that I was never there. You have fulfilled the prophecy for your birth, but a journey begins anew. In the end, there actually is no end, just a new beginning. It's painful that I got to spend so much time with your mother and you so little. But know this, the ones who love us, don't really leave us. You can always find them. In your heart. I love you."

"I love you too Daddy." With that he faded. I cried out a few tears. I swam out of the moon pool.

We've lived together, we've trained together, we've fought together and we've stood up for what we believed was right together. We are merfolk. Our energy comes from the moon, and our strength comes from the sea. No matter what, we are who we are. And there ain't no bad guy, evil weapon or force that's ever going to change that. That's what's important. That's why we will always be…Family.

Oh man I love having the best of both worlds!

THE END!


End file.
